Other
2022 Khorog and Rushan crackdown
A fatal police shooting triggered protests that escalated into a deadly government crackdown, followed by lengthy prison sentences for local activists.
What happened
On 25 November 2021, protests broke out in Khorog after security forces fatally shot Gulbidin Ziyobekov; footage that emerged weeks later suggested he had been summarily killed, contradicting the official account.[1]
Protests began peacefully in Khorog on 16 May 2022; police dispersed protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas, and on 18 May 2022 the Interior Ministry announced an "anti-terror operation" in Rushan District involving a communications blackout and, according to human-rights reporting, the use of snipers and military helicopters against civilians. Human Rights Watch reported 13 deaths and 27 injuries, and more than 200 arbitrary detentions with reports of torture.[2]
Journalist and activist Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva was arrested on 18 May 2022 and sentenced in December 2022 to 21 years in prison for allegedly organizing the protests, in a trial international observers criticized as unfair and conducted in secret.[3]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: On 25 November 2021, protests broke out in Khorog, GBAO's administrative centre, after security forces fatally shot Gulbidin Ziyobekov, a young man from Roshtkala District; while security forces initially described his death as occurring during a shootout while resisting arrest, footage that emerged weeks later suggested he had been summarily killed.
- Tajikistan: Stop Abusing Autonomous Region Protesters (Human Rights Watch) link, November 2021 killing section. Advocacy organisation perspective Source record
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2.
Claim: Protests began peacefully in Khorog on 16 May 2022, demanding an end to alleged harassment of local people by Tajik authorities; police dispersed protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas, and on 18 May 2022 the Interior Ministry announced an "anti-terror operation" in Rushan District, during which mobile, landline and internet communications were cut and, according to local witnesses and human-rights reporting, snipers and military helicopters fired live ammunition at civilians. Human Rights Watch reported that clashes and the Rushan operation together left 13 people dead (including one police officer) and 27 injured, and that more than 200 protesters and local residents were arbitrarily detained, with reports of torture; this bundle presents these figures and allegations as reported by human-rights sources, not independently verified.
- Tajikistan: Stop Abusing Autonomous Region Protesters (Human Rights Watch) link, May 2022 protests and Rushan operation sections. Advocacy organisation perspective Source record
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3.
Claim: Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, a Pamiri journalist and rights activist who founded the Pamir Plus news website in December 2021, was arrested at her home in Dushanbe on 18 May 2022 and accused of organizing the Khorog protests; in December 2022, Tajikistan's Supreme Court sentenced her to 21 years in prison on charges including publicly calling for violent change of the constitutional order, organizing a criminal group, murder, attempted murder and terrorism, in a trial that Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Council criticized as unfair and conducted in secret.
- Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva (Wikipedia) link, Arrest, charges and sentencing sections. Source record