[WCAR] CERD 65th session: Report of Tajikistan

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
12 August 2004

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered
the report of Tajikistan on its implementation of the provisions of the
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination.

Presenting the report was Khalifabobo Khamidov, Minister of Justice of
Tajikistan, who said Tajikistan was a country in transition, which for half
of the 13 years since its independence had been faced with and civil war.
Despite this the State had been taking efforts to guarantee its citizens
their rights and had improved relations among those living in Tajikistan.
The Minister noted that there were more than 120 nationalities and ethnic
groups represented in Tajikistan and the Government had endeavoured to find
the optimum model for ethnic and cultural cooperation among the different
nationalities living in the country.

In the course of the discussion, which was held over two meetings, issues
concerning emigration, refugees, amnesty, the Roma, national minority
languages and education were raised, among other subjects.

In preliminary remarks, the country Rapporteur for the report, Committee
Expert Alexei Avtonomov, said during the dialogue with the Committee the
delegation had talked about the progress the State had made in the area of
human rights and its willingness to implement the Convention. The Committee
encouraged the Government to conduct a study and survey on the question of
the Roma and also welcomed information on the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous
Oblast and reasons why there were no reported cases of racial
discrimination or related offences.

The Committee will present its final conclusions and recommendations on the
initial to fifth periodic reports of Tajikistan, which were presented in
one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 20 August.

The delegation of Tajikistan also included representatives of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, the Presidential Executive Office and the Government
Committee on Statistics.

Also today, the Committee announced the composition of its Working Group
that would follow-up on its mechanism on urgent matters and early warning
measures and identify areas where such measures might apply. The members
appointed were: Jose Francisco Cali Tzay, Alexei Avtonomov, Regis de
Gouttes, Agha Shahi and Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill, who was asked to
coordinate the Working Group.

The Committee also expressed its wish to engage in a thematic discussion
with the Secretary-General's Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide,
Juan Mendez, with whom the Committee could discuss the issue of genocide.
It was determined that this discussion would take part on Tuesday, 17
August at 12 p.m.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will begin its
consideration of the report of Portugal (CERD/C/447/Add.1).


REPORT OF TAJIKISTAN

The initial to fifth periodic reports of Tajikistan, included in document
CERD/C/463/Add.1, state that there are more than 120 nationalities and
ethnic groups represented in Tajikistan, including Tajiks, Uzbeks,
Russians, Kyrgyzes, Turkmens, Tatars and others. Moreover, the collapse of
the Soviet Union, the civil war in Tajikistan and its aftermath resulted in
a sharp rise in emigration. The Constitution completely rules out the
possibility of discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, language,
nationality, faith, political beliefs or social or material status; the
State guarantees individual rights and freedoms, and everyone is equal
before the law and the courts. Moreover, under the Constitution, all
nationalities and minorities living on the territory of the Republic are
entitled to use their mother tongue without restriction and the
Constitution bans propaganda and agitation that arouse social, racial,
religious and linguistic enmity and hatred.

Aside from the legislative measures aimed at prohibiting racial
discrimination by any individual, group or organization in Tajikistan,
ethnic minorities can now actively take advantage of their constitutional
right to assemble and form voluntary associations. A total of 28,021
marriages were registered at registry offices in 1996; in 2,372 of these
marriages - 8.5 per cent of the total - the spouses were of different
ethnic origin. Since 97 per cent of the population of Tajikistan professes
Islam, the State takes special care to ensure that ethnic and religious
minorities do not feel oppressed and a legal framework has also been
developed to enable religious minorities to assert and satisfy their
religious needs more fully. In December 2003 there were 69 non-Muslim
religious organizations operating within the country.

The State upholds the right of Tajik citizens to use their native languages
and other languages spoken in the Republic when receiving and disseminating
information for a mass audience. The report also refers to the Education
Act which guarantees the right to education in Tajikistan, irrespective of
a person's origin, sex, language, race or ethnic background, social and
material standing, type or nature of occupation, place of residence,
opinions, religious beliefs or attitude to religion.


PRESENTATION OF REPORT

KHALIFABOBO KHAMIDOV, Minister of Justice of Tajikistan, said Tajikistan
was a country in transition which for half of the 13 years since its
independence had been faced with instability and civil war. Despite this
the State had been making efforts to guarantee its citizens their rights
and had improved relations among those living in Tajikistan. Moreover, the
country had set out to establish a State which consolidated the principles
and values of a civilized society.

The Minister noted that there were more than 120 nationalities and ethnic
groups represented in Tajikistan. In the years since gaining independence
Tajikistan had endeavoured to find the optimum model for ethnic and
cultural cooperation among the different nationalities living in the
country. The ethnic situation in the country over this period has been
characterized by an increase in ethnic awareness and a return by minorities
to their ethnic roots. The problems of harmonizing inter-ethnic relations
and strengthening trust, agreement and cooperation became a matter of close
attention for State institutions and the public at large and the
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination was taken into account when drafting and adopting
Tajikistan's new Constitution in 1994.
The Criminal Code established the principle of equality before the law and
stated that persons who had committed offences were equal before the law
and were subject to criminal liability irrespective of their sex, race,
nationality, language, attitude to religion, or apolitical beliefs among
other things. The Criminal Code also provided for criminal prosecution of
the practice of apartheid and other inhuman and degrading conduct based on
racial discrimination that offends against human dignity during armed
conflict. There had been no court cases relating to this category of
offence. Moreover, Tajikistan condemned all propaganda and all
organizations that were based on ideas or theories of the superiority of
one race or group of people of a certain colour or ethnic origin, or that
attempted to justify or encourage racial hatred and discrimination in any form.

The Minister noted that according to the official figures, more than
200,000 migrants left Tajikistan every year in search of work. Some 206,700
people went abroad in 2002 in search of seasonal work. As of 1 August 2003,
there were 348,000 working migrants outside the country, including 190,000
who left Tajikistan during the reporting period. Ninety-three per cent of
all working migrants were in the Russian Federation.

According to the Family Code, Mr. Khamidov said, family relations were to
be regulated in accordance with the principles of a voluntary marital union
and equal rights for the spouses within the family. On the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion, the Republic of Tajikistan guaranteed
that everyone was equal before the law, without any distinction as to race,
skin colour, or national or ethnic origin. Furthermore, no coercion may be
applied when a citizen declared his or her attitude to religion and
religious freedom was exemplified by the activity of religious
organizations in Tajikistan; as of December 2003 there were 69 non-Muslim
religious organizations operating within the country.

The Minister also noted that people belonging to ethnic, religious and
linguistic minorities in Tajikistan had the right to freely express their
beliefs and opinions and to disseminate them in any form in the press and
other mass media. With regard to the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and association, Tajikistan guaranteed that everyone was equal before the
law, without any distinction as to race, skin colour, or national or ethnic
origin.

The State encouraged the development of inter-ethnic and intercultural
understanding and the ethnic culture and traditions of the various peoples
living in Tajikistan, Mr. Khamidov said. A systematic programme was being
followed in the field of human rights education, with instruction in
raising the level of legal awareness and knowledge of human rights; the
programme aimed to, among other things, promote understanding, tolerance,
and equality between the sexes and friendship among all nations, indigenous
peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. With
a view to combating racial prejudices, xenophobia and the related
intolerance that bred racial discrimination, the Tajik mass media was
pursuing targeted public information campaigns to promote wider knowledge
of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination, among other international human rights instruments.


DISCUSSION

ALEXEI AVTONOMOV, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, said
the high-ranking and well-represented delegation from the Government of
Tajikistan highlighted the importance the State party gave to the
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination. Tajikistan was a country with people of various origins who
had been living through difficult times in terms of instability, although
at present the country was living in peaceful times.

The issue of migration and emigration was difficult in that many Tajiks
were forced to leave Tajikistan to pursue better job opportunities as a
result of the low number of employment opportunities in the country.
Opinion polls indicated that many Tajiks wanted to learn the Russian
language in order to move to the Russian Federation for employment purposes.

Mr. Avtonomov drew attention to the fact that despite difficulties facing
Tajikistan, the Government had ratified a wide range of human rights
instruments; among them was the Commonwealth of Independent States
Convention on the rights of minorities which was not mentioned in the
report. As far as the Convention on Racial Discrimination, the Rapporteur
said there were no reservations made by the State party, and no statement
was made under article 14 on communications.

The report itself reflected that the recommendations by the Committee were
acted on. Although the report was delayed, the Rapporteur noted that it was
largely due to the ensuing civil war and other difficulties. He also
underlined the creation of an inter-agency committee to draft reports
submitted to treaty bodies and welcomed the steps taken by Tajikistan in
terms of the Durban declaration and existing cooperation between the
Government and NGOs and other organizations in the country.

Among other things, the Rapporteur asked for more information on
schoolbooks published in national minority languages and suggested that
many of the books used today could have been left over from the former
Soviet era, and that there was no case law in Tajikistan nor any
statistical data in that connection.

Mr. Avtonomov referred to the report which indicated that in the interests
of national security, maintaining public order and protecting public
health, the Government may impose restrictions on choice of place of
residence in specified areas of the country. On this matter, more
information was sought.

The head of the delegation said the people of Tajikistan had always been
grateful for the support granted to them by the United Nations which had
sacrificed several of its peacekeepers who lost their lives in an effort to
ensure peace in Tajikistan. The Tajikistan of today was a stable country
where the people lived in peace. The efforts of the representatives of the
Secretary-General had also contributed much to the peace process which was
now bearing fruit. Now the Tajik people were facing the task of eliminating
all the consequences of the war.

The delegation affirmed that in drafting the report the Government had
consulted with national minorities; several members of their communities
had contributed to its drafting; it was also discussed with the public at
large.

In response to a question on the definition of racial discrimination in
domestic law, the delegation affirmed that all acts of legislation in
Tajikistan prohibited acts of racial discrimination in all respects. The
definition as provided in the Convention was contained in the domestic
legislation of Tajikistan.

On the issue of emigration, the delegation noted that during the civil war
between 1989 and 1993 there was an outflow of approximately 500,000
citizens of Tajikistan. Following the peace accords of 1997 the figure
declined sharply to 17,000. At present, the reasons for emigration were due
to employment. Starting in 2001, the Government carried out surveys on the
living standards of the people covering the period 1999 to 2003 so as to
determine the levels of unemployment and the jobs available to the
population. The decline in poverty levels also had an influence on the
migratory flow of the population. The Government adopted an official
document to reduce poverty. Tajikistan had also established the post of a
special representative to protect the interests of Tajik labour migrants
working in the Russian Federation. When jobs became available in Tajikistan
people did come home to work. In short, labour migrants came home to
Tajikistan on a seasonal basis and were not permanently outside of the
country. The delegation noted, however, that Tajik citizens did leave the
country on a more permanent basis during the years of the civil war. In the
period between the 1989 and 2000 the population grew by 23.8 per cent.
According to figures, during this period there was a growth in the number
of individual nationalities or domestic groups.

Concerning the Roma, the delegation indicated that the number of Roma had
grown; in 1989 there were some 1,800 Roma in country and in 2000
approximately 4,300 Roma. They mainly lived in the industrial regions in
the country and they enjoyed all the same rights afforded to other citizens
of Tajikistan. Moreover, Roma children went to school with other children
in Tajikistan.

In response to a question, the delegation said statistics demonstrated that
there had been no cases of direct application on the Convention by the
domestic courts. Moreover, no complaints lodged on the basis of race, creed
or colour had ever been received.

The Committee asked whether the State party had given thought to
establishing a National Human Rights Institution, to which the delegation
said there were a number of institutions which promoted and protected human
rights; among these was a governmental commission to ensure the
implementation of international obligations in the field of human rights
and to coordinate related activities within the Government. The Commission
consisted of representatives of Government and NGOs. There was also the
Department of Constitutional Guarantees attached to the President's Office,
which also defended human rights. The setting up of a National Human Rights
Institution had been contemplated and more thought was being given to that
concept at present.

On the question raised on the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, the
delegation noted that this Oblast was an historical formation with a unique
culture and local languages. It was a part of Tajikistan, which resolved
its own issues under the Tajikistan Constitution, however on its
territories the laws of the country prevailed.

On refugee matters, the delegation noted that the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees had been assisting the Government to encourage
refugees to return and to create suitable living conditions for them. The
National Commission on Reconciliation had helped refugees to return to the
country.

Concerning Afghan refugees, the delegation noted that there were presently
over 1,900 Afghan refugees in Tajikistan. The State's policy was to ensure
their rights in line with United Nations standards. The Government had
established a school for the children of Afghan refugees; 660 children were
studying there at present. With the help of UNHCR and support from an NGO,
a refugee centre was created where various training course had been set up
for refugee women. Children of Afghan refugees had periodical medical
checkups and social and legal aid was also provided to them by the State.
The delegation added that 133 Afghan refugees were voluntarily repatriated
to Afghanistan in 2003 and another 52 in the first half of this year. The
overall number of Afghan refugees who had returned home was 13,000.

The Government's law on refugees of 2002 provided that refugees and family
members could live in Tajikistan based on a list of settlements determined
by the Government. Another decree was adopted providing a list of
settlements in the country where refugees and asylum seekers were not able
to live.

On the question of citizenship, the delegation said the Constitution of
Tajikistan stated that citizens of Tajikistan could not seek dual
nationality except in certain States which the Government had entered into
agreement with. Moreover, Tajikistan had encouraged stateless persons to
pursue citizenship in Tajikistan and therefore the State policy was aimed
to reduce statelessness. The only condition for acquisition of citizenship
was residence on Tajikistan for over five years.

In response to a question on the use of minority languages in public
television, the delegation noted that the Tajik mass media broadcast in the
official language and other languages in accordance with the Constitution.
National State Television channels and the public television company
"Poitakht" carried news bulletins, films and other programmes in Russian
and Uzbek, and the bulk of the programming of the private television
company "Somoniën" was in Russian. The main Russian television channels
were routinely retransmitted in Tajikistan. Moreover, the Government had
entered into an agreement with the Government of the Republic of Korea to
produce Korean language television programmes as well.

On the subject of education, the delegation said the Education Act
guaranteed the right to education in Tajikistan, irrespective of a person's
origin, sex, language, race or ethnic background, among other things. At
present there were 3,676 schools in the country; the languages spoken in
these schools were Uzbek, Russian, Kyrgyz and Turkmen. Students were given
the opportunity to study their own history and culture and special
textbooks were produced in their respective languages. The Government had
been making further efforts to provide schoolbooks in additional languages.

According to the Culture Act of 1997, which was revised in 2001, national
ethnic groups were able to maintain and develop their own national cultural
interests and to establish cultural centres and communities. Foreign
nationals and stateless persons also had the right to promote their own
culture. The State encouraged the development of inter-ethnic and
inter-cultural understanding between Tajikistan and the ethnic culture and
traditions of the various peoples living in the country, the delegation added.

On the issue of amnesty, the delegation noted that the State's Amnesty Act
was put forth after the signing of the peace agreement and was prepared by
the National Reconciliation Commission in Moscow; after its adoption it was
applied to 1,811 people. Furthermore, over 50,000 members of the opposition
were released from detention and their cases were dismissed.

Concerning the training of judges and lawyers, extensive work was being
done to explain the provisions of United Nations human rights instruments
to all legal and security professionals. Among other things, a compendium
on human rights training was produced in cooperation with the Swiss
Cooperation and Development Agency and was distributed to judges and
lawyers. Workshops and seminars had also been taking place to further those
efforts and a training centre had been created for judges, which would
further enhance their training in the field of human rights.


PRELIMINARY REMARKS

ALEXEI AVTONOMOV, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, said
that during the dialogue with the Committee, the delegation had expressed
the progress it had made in the area of human rights and its willingness to
implement the Convention. Many of the questions posed were answered and
there was now much more clarity on a range of pertinent issues.

However, some questions had not yet been properly answered. The issue of
the Roma was one area where the Committee sought additional information.
The Committee encouraged the Government to conduct a study and survey to
look into his question. Information on acts of vandalism, the
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast and reasons why there were no reported
cases of racial discrimination or related offences would be welcome. The
Rapporteur also raised the issue of language and more specifically the use
of different alphabets, adding that it was a matter for all people to
determine which alphabets they used.


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