57. Tajikistan (1991-present)

 

Crisis Phase (September 9, 1991-May 4, 1992): Tajikistan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on September 9, 1991.  President Qadruddin Aslanov banned the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT) on September 22, 1991, but parliament overturned the ban on September 23, 1991.  Rakhman Nabiyev of the CPT was chosen as provisional president on September 23, 1991.  President Nabiyev declared a state of emergency on September 23, 1991, but lifted the state of emergency on September 30, 1991.  Rakhman Nabiev was elected president with some 58 percent of the vote on November 27, 1991.  Davlat Khudanazarov, who won 30 percent of the presidential vote, claimed election fraud.

Conflict Phase (May 5, 1992-December 23, 1996):  Some 100,000 individuals demonstrated against the government in Dushanbe on May 5-10, 1992.  The government declared a state-of-emergency on May 5, 1992.  Some 20 individuals were killed by government troops on May 10, 1992.  President Nabiev formed a coalition government with members of opposition political parties on May 11, 1992.  Opposition political parties formed the Front for National Salvation (FNS) headed by Shadman Yusuf and Davlat Usman on June 17, 1992.  Prime Minister Akbar Mirzoyev resigned on August 30, 1992, and Dzhamskeg Karimov was appointed as prime minister.  President Nabiev was forced to resign on September 7, 1992, and Akbarshah Iskandarov was appointed provisional president on September 8, 1992.  President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan appealed to the United Nations for assistance in preventing the escalation of military hostilities in Tajikistan on September 8, 1992 (some 23 percent of the population of Tajikistan were ethnic-Uzbeks).  The United Nations (UN) secretary-general sent a fact-finding mission to the region from September 13-23, 1992.  President Iskandarov appointed Abdumalik Abdulajanov as interim prime minister on September 24, 1992.  The UN secretary-general established a good offices mission on October 29, 1992, following a request to the UN secretary-general from President Iskandarov on September 29, 1992.  The Supreme Soviet (parliament) abolished the office of president on November 16, 1992, and elected Imomali Rakhmonov as parliamentary chairman and head-of-state.  The defense ministers of Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan announced the formation of a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping force, consisting of 1,500 troops from Russia and Uzbekistan, on November 30, 1992.  North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers appealed for a ceasefire on December 18, 1992.  Some 90,000 Tajiks fled as refugees to northern Afghanistan in 1992.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) established a mission consisting of some 280 personnel to provide humanitarian assistance to internally-displaced individuals in Tajikistan beginning in 1992.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) established a mission to provide humanitarian assistance to Tajik refugees and internally-displaced individuals in 1993. The government declared a state-of-emergency in Dushanbe on January 7, 1993.  The CIS peacekeeping force was deployed in Tajikistan on March 3, 1993.  The government declared a state-of-emergency in the town of Kurgan-Tyube and Khatlon province on March 30, 1993.  Rakman Nabiev died of a heart attack on April 10, 1993.  Ismat Kittani of Iraq was appointed as UN Special Envoy for Tajikistan on April 26, 1993.  NATO foreign ministers appealed for peaceful negotiations on June 11, 1993.  Islamic militants attacked Russian peacekeeping troops in Kulab on July 13-14, 1993, resulting in the deaths of 25 Russian troops, 70 Islamic militants, and 200 civilians.  The CIS peacekeeping force was expanded to some 25,000 troops from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan on September 24, 1993.  The CIS peacekeeping force was responsible for maintaining a ceasefire and for protecting the delivery of humanitarian assistance. On December 1, 1993, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council established the OSCE Mission in Tajikistan to facilitate dialogue between representatives of the government and opposition groups and to promote human rights.  The OSCE mission, which consisted of eight personnel in Dushanbe and several other cities, began its work on February 19, 1994.  Ismat Kittani resigned as UN Special Envoy, and UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appointed Ramiro Piriz-Ballon of Uruguay as Special Envoy in December 1993.  Prime Minister Abdulajanov resigned on December 19, 1993, and Abujalil Ahadovich Samadov was appointed as acting prime minister on December 22, 1993.  The UN special envoy facilitated negotiations between the Tajikistan government and Tajik opposition groups in Moscow from April 5-19, 1994 and in Tehran from June 18-28, 1994 and September 9-18, 1994.  The state-of-emergency was allowed to expire on August 12, 1994.  The parties signed a temporary ceasefire agreement in Tehran on September 17, 1994, and the ceasefire went into effect on October 20, 1994.  The UN Security Council deployed 15 military observers headed by General Hasan Abaza of Jordan beginning on October 20, 1994.  The UN special envoy facilitated negotiations between the parties in Islamabad, Pakistan from October 20 to November 1, 1994.  Imomali Rahmonov of the CPT was elected as president with some 58 percent of the vote on November 6, 1994.  A new constitution was approved in a referendum on November 6, 1994.  President Rahmonov appointed Dzhamskeg Karimov as prime minister on December 2, 1994.  The UN good offices mission was disbanded on December 15, 1994.  On December 16, 1994, the UN Security Council established the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) to monitor the temporary ceasefire agreement and to monitor the disarmament/demobilization of former combatants.  UNMOT consisted of 81 military observers from 15 countries commanded by Brigadier-General Hasan Abaza of Jordan.  Legislative elections were held on February 26 and March 12, 1995, and the CPT won 60 out of 181 seats in the assembly.  Independent candidates won 113 seats in the Assembly of Representatives.  Most opposition parties boycotted the legislative elections.  The CIS sent observers to monitor the legislative elections.  The CIS mission reported that the elections had been free and fair.  Ramiro Piriz-Ballon resigned as UN special envoy in February 1996.  The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) provided humanitarian assistance to Tajik refugees in Kyrgyzstan beginning in March 1996.  Gerd Dietrich Merrem of Germany was appointed as UN Special Representative to Tajikistan in May 1996.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided economic assistance to the government beginning in May 1996.  The UN Security Council appealed for a ceasefire on June 14, 1996.  The World Bank (WB) provided reconstruction assistance to the government between May 16, 1996 and June 30, 2000.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB), Germany, Netherlands, and the US provided reconstruction assistance to the government beginning in 1996.  The UN Security Council demanded a cessation of military hostilities on December 13, 1996.  President Rahmonov and Said Abdullo Nuri, the leader of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), signed a ceasefire agreement mediated by Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov of Russia and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati of Iran in Moscow on December 23, 1996.  More than 50,000 individuals were killed during the conflict, including some 130 CIS peacekeeping troops.  Some 950,000 individuals – including 250,000 individuals who fled to neighboring countries – were displaced during the conflict.

Post-Conflict Phase (December 24, 1996-present): President Rahmonov survived an attempted assassination in Khujand on April 30, 1997.  Government and UTO representatives signed a protocol in Tehran on May 28, 1997.  President Rahmonov and Said Abdullo Nuri signed the Peace and National Reconciliation Accord mediated by Russia and Iran in Moscow on June 27, 1997.  The UNHCR, International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UNICEF established missions to provide repatriation assistance to Tajik refugees in 1997.  The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) was established.  The government suppressed a rebellion led by Colonel Makhmud Khudoiberdiyev in Khalton in July 1997, resulting in the deaths of 49 individuals.  Some 80 rebels attacked the barracks of the presidential guard in Dushanbe on October 16, 1997, resulting in the deaths of 18 individuals.  Government troops and former UTO rebels clashed near Dushanbe on April 29-May 2, 1998, resulting in the deaths of 20 government soldiers, five rebels, and 26 civilians.  Gerd Dietrich Merrem was replaced by Jan Kubis of the Slovak Republic as UN special representative to Tajikistan on June 15, 1998. Jan Kubis of Slovak Republic replaced Gerd Merrem as UN Special Representative to Tajikistan on June 1, 1998.  Gunmen attacked and killed five individuals on the Dzerzhinsk state farm on July 11, 1998.  Four members of UNMOT – including two military observers and two civilian staff members – were ambushed and killed east of Dushanbe on July 21, 1998.  Otakhon Latifi, a senior opposition leader, was assassinated in Dushanbe on September 22, 1998.  Government troops and armed groups clashed near Dushanbe on October 13, 1998, resulting in the deaths of thirteen individuals.  Government troops and UTO troops commanded by Mirzo Ziyoev suppressed a military rebellion led by Colonel Makhmud Khudoiberdyev and former Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov in the Leninabad region on November 4-9, 1998, resulting in the deaths of some 200 individuals. On November 13, 1998, the parliament agreed to lift a ban on opposition political parties.  Factions of the Islamic opposition clashed in Dushanbe on December 30, 1998, resulting in the deaths of five individuals.  The UNHCR assisted in the repatriation of several thousand Tajik refugees between 1997 and 1999, including 6,000 refugees from Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan in 1999. On March 26, 1999, the Supreme Court sentence three individuals to death for the 1998 killings of four UN staff members.  Eighteen Russian soldiers, including Major-General Mikhail Bersenev, were killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Tajikistan on April 2, 1999.  On October 18, 1999, the UTO withdrew from the NRC after its candidate was barred from participating in the upcoming presidential election.  UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan appointed Ivo Petrov of Bulgaria as special representative to Tajikistan on September 22, 1999.  Constitutional amendments – including legalizing religious political parties, establishing a bicameral parliament, and lengthening the presidential term from five to seven years – were approved in a referendum on September 26, 1999.  President Rahmonov was re-elected with 97 percent of the vote on November 6, 1999.  Davlat Usmon, candidate of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP), claimed election fraud. Some 100 election observers from 14 countries, representing the CIS (election observers headed by Alexander Metelsky), Iran, and Turkey, monitored the presidential election.  President Rahmonov appointed Akil Akilov as prime minister on December 20, 1999.  On December 29, 1999, five individuals were sentenced to death for their involvement in the November 1998 rebellion.  Five individuals were killed in bus bombing in Dushanbe on February 2, 2000.  Shamsullo Dzhabirov, Deputy Security Minister, was killed and Makhmadsaid Ubaidullayev, Mayor of Dushanbe, was injured in a car bombing in Dushanbe on February 16, 2000.  Legislative elections were held on February 27 and March 12, 2000, and President Rahmonov’s People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (Hizbi Demokrati-Khalkii Tojikston-HDKT) won 36 out of 63 seats in the Assembly of Representatives.  The Islamic Revival Party (IRP) and other opposition political parties claimed election fraud. Japan sent five observers headed by Keizo Takemi to monitor the legislative elections from February 25 to March 1, 2000.  The UN and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) established the Joint Election Observation Mission to Tajikistan (JEOMT) consisting of 12 long-term observers and 86 short-term observers headed by Zenon Kuchciak of Poland to monitor the legislative elections beginning on January 15, 2000 (the OSCE/ODIHR mission issued its final report on May 17, 2000).  UNMOT was disbanded on May 15, 2000.  Three UNMOT military observers and two international civilian staff members were killed during the mission.  UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan established the United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peace-Building (UNTOP) on June 1, 2000.  UNTOP consisted of seven personnel headed by Ivo Petrov of Bulgaria.  A local government official was killed by a gunman in the Garmskiy region in eastern Tajikistan on June 3, 2000.  Government troops captured Islamic rebel leader, Mullo Abdullo, in the eastern region of Darband on September 11, 2000.  The CIS peacekeeping mission was formally disbanded on September 16, 2000.  At least 150 CIS peacekeeping personnel were killed during the mission.  Nine individuals were killed in a Christian mission in Dushanbe on October 1, 2000.  Two individuals were killed in a bombing in Dushanbe on April 5, 2001.  Habib Sanginov, Deputy Interior Minister, and two other individuals were assassinated by gunmen in Dushanbe on April 11, 2001. Three children were killed in a grenade explosion in the village of Turkabad in Kofarnihon District on April 26, 2001.  Three policemen were killed by armed men in Kofanikhon District near Dushanbe on April 27, 2001.  On May 11, 2001, the Supreme Court sentenced two individuals to death for attempting to murder the mayor of Dushanbe in February 2000.  Former UTO commanders, Rahmon Sanginov and Mansur Muakkalov, took ten individuals hostage near Dushanbe on June 11, 2001.  Former UTO commander, Said Akhmativ, took fifteen individuals hostage on June 15, 2001.  The hostages were released on June 17, 2001.  Some 3,000 government troops clashed with former UTO rebels near Dushanbe between June 22 and July 15, 2001, resulting in the deaths of some 45 rebels and nine government soldiers.  On July 13, 2001, the Supreme Court sentence two individuals to death for bombing a Christian mission in Dushanbe in October 2000. Rahmon Sanginov, a former rebel leader, was killed by government security forces east of Dushanbe on August 10, 2001.  The Supreme Court sentenced eleven Islamic militants to death for murders committed between 1995 and 2000.  Several amendments to the constitution, including an amendment that would allow the current president to serve two seven-year terms in office beyond his current term, were approved in a referendum on June 22, 2003.  One individual was killed in a car-bombing in Dushanbe on January 31, 2005.  Legislative elections were held on February 27 and March 13, 2005, and the HDKT won 49 out of 63 seats in the Assembly of Representatives.  The CPT won four seats in the Assembly of Representatives.  The OSCE/ODIHR, which concluded that the elections were not free and fair, sent 17 long-term observers and 133 short-term observers to monitor the legislative elections from January 24 to February 28, 2005.  The CIS sent 20 long-term observers and 130 short-term observers headed by Vladimir Rushailo of Russia to monitor the legislative elections from January 25 to February 28, 2005.  The Assembly of Representatives convened on March 17, 2005.  On October 5, 2005, Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for charges related to terrorism and embezzlement.  President Rahmonov was re-elected with 79 percent of the vote on November 6, 2006.  The OSCE/ODIHR sent 25 long-term observers and 123 short-term observers headed by Kimmo Kiljunen of Finland to monitor the presidential election from October 9 to November 7, 2006.  The CIS sent 236 observers from nine countries headed by Vladimir Rushailo of Russia to monitor the presidential election.  The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) sent observers to monitor the presidential election.  The Stefan Batory Foundation (SBF), a Polish non-governmental organization, sent two long-term observers and 20 short-term observers to monitor the presidential election.  Four Islamic militants were killed by government police in the city of Isfara on October 19, 2009.  Legislative elections were held on February 28 and March 14, 2010 and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 55 out of 63 seats in the Assembly of Representatives.  The Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT) and the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) each won two seats in the Assembly of Representatives.  The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which concluded that the elections were free and fair, sent 160 observers headed by Sergey Lebedev of Russia to monitor the legislative elections from February 4 to March 1, 2010.  The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) sent 16 observers from five countries headed by Mikhail Konarovsky of Russia to monitor the legislative elections from February 24 to March 1, 2010.  The OSCE/ODIHR, which concluded that the elections had “failed on many basic democratic standards,” sent 17 election experts, 20 long-term observers, and 242 short-term observers from 36 countries headed by Dr. Artis Pabriks from Latvia to monitor the legislative elections from January 14 to March 1, 2010.  Twenty-five Islamic militants escaped from a prison in Dushanbe on August 23, 2010, resulting in the deaths of five prison guards.  Islamic militants ambushed and killed 28 government soldiers in Rasht Valley in eastern Tajikistan on September 19, 2010.  A military helicopter crashed in the Rasht Valley during an operation against Islamic militants, resulting in the deaths of 25 government soldiers.  Government troops clashed with Islamic militants near the town of Garm in the Rasht Valley on October 18, 2010, resulting in the deaths of three militants.  Major-General Abdullo Nazarov, head of the Tajikistan Intelligence Agency branch in the province of Gorno-Badakhstan, was assassinated in Ishkashim on July 21, 2012.  Government troops clashed with Islamic militants in Gorno-Badakhstan Province on July 24-25, 2012, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 government soldiers and 30 militants.  Several hundred individuals have been killed in political violence since the end of the civil war in December 1996.

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