On Aug. 28, the Tajik Justice Ministry announced that the non-parliamentary Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) could not legally continue its activities because it did not have enough members to qualify as a registered party. On Sept. 29, Tajik prosecutors said that 23 top officials of the banned IRPT had been arrested. The Supreme Court ruled that the IRPT was "extremist and a terrorist organization" and banned it. The ministry said that all the party's branches in 58 cities and districts across Tajikistan had been closed. The IRPT played an important part in Tajikistan's 1992-1997 civil war, which left tens of thousands dead and more than 1 million people displaced. It was the only officially registered Islamic party in the former Soviet Union and was represented in the Tajik parliament for 15 years until it failed in elections in March to meet the threshold for parliament.
The decision came after the government blamed the party for organizing the Sept. 4 attacks on a police station near Dushanbe that killed 26 people. IRPT officials have rejected the charges of insurrection and have called the arrest of party officials politically motivated. Human rights groups have condemned the crackdown as politically motivated. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights accused the Tajik government of committing "human rights violations." "This will have a disastrous effect on the overall climate of freedom of expression in Tajikistan," said Steve Swerdlow, a Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
According to the Pew Research Center, the population of Tajikistan is 98 percent Muslim. However, Muslim Tajiks face fundamental rights abuses. In November 2014, the Tajik National Assembly rejected a proposed law to allow prayer in public and work places. Furthermore, some activities of religious groups have been restricted by the requirement for registration with the State Committee on Religious Affairs (SCRA). Religious groups that do not have a physical structure are not allowed to gather publicly for prayer. Failure to register can result in large fines and the closure of places of worship. "At least 50,000 signatures must be collected to build a mosque across Tajik provinces. Women and those under 18 years old are banned from mosques," Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan said in 2014.
According to HRW, Tajik authorities maintain tight restrictions on religious freedoms, including religious education and worship. Regulations restrict religious dress. Under the pretext of combating extremism, Tajikistan continues to ban Muslim groups. Headscarves are banned in educational institutions and beards are prohibited in public buildings.
In May 2015, the government was debating whether to ban Arabic names and Arabic words in Tajik as part of an ongoing campaign against Islam. Some members of parliament were reportedly demanding that existing names that are Arabic-sounding should be changed to Tajik-sounding ones. The Ministry of Justice is preparing a list of recommended names if parents cannot think of one. In 2011, a law was approved banning children under-18 from attending the Friday prayers. Tajiks under the age of 35 were banned from the hajj in 2015 by SCRA.
In April 2015, wearing black was banned for women in northern Khujan province by Mayor Ahmadzade. Also, importing black dresses is banned to diminish the "Shiite effect." "Everyone must honor national and traditional Tajik clothes. We should not allow the belittlement of our culture. Other nations' cultures are so far from us," Ahmadzade said.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who has led Tajikistan since 1992, has been criticized for authoritarian-style rule and his regime's poor human and civil rights records. Rahmon was criticized by opposition parties and foreign observers for unfair presidential elections in 1999 and 2006. Nontransparent elections were criticized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and mainstream opposition parties, so the Islamic Renaissance Party boycotted the elections. Rahmon's administration came under further criticism from the OSCE in October 2010 for its censorship and repression of the media. The OSCE claimed that the Tajik government censored local and foreign websites and newspapers. The 2005 parliamentary elections saw increased closures of independent and opposition newspapers and attacks on journalists. In 2003, the government blocked Internet websites run by the political opposition.
