Three international human rights organizations have expressed concern over the fate of Suhrob Zafar, the leader of the outlawed opposition Group 24 movement whose whereabouts have been unknown since early March.

Human Rights Watch, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and the International Partnership for Human Rights on May 3 called on Tajik authorities in a joint statement to “immediately confirm the detention and whereabouts of and release” Suhrob Zafar, who was “forcibly disappeared” while in Turkiye despite holding official UNHCR asylum seeker status there.

A joint statement, posted on Human rights Watch’s website, in particular, says the sources said that the Tajik State Committee for National Security is holding him in Dushanbe, is periodically torturing him, and has denied him medical assistance.  The Tajik government has reportedly neither confirmed that he is in their custody nor his whereabouts.

Ms. Syinat Sultanaliyeva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Tajik authorities should immediately verify Suhrob Zafar’s detention status and whereabouts and urgently investigate allegations that he has been tortured.

Authorities should also ensure and confirm that Suhrob Zafar receives his full due process rights, including contact with his family, access to a lawyer of his own choosing, and necessary medical treatment, the human rights organizations said.

The statement notes that Suhrob Zafar, a senior figure in Group 24 opposition movement, was forcibly disappeared on March 10 in Turkiye, and his colleague Nasimjon Sharifov was forcibly disappeared on February 23. Both had previously been detained by the Turkish police in March 2018 at the request of Tajik authorities and threatened with extradition, but were eventually released.

Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned Group 24 on October 9, 2014 following growing government pressure on the opposition group after it used the Internet to call for street protests in the capital, Dushanbe, on October 10, 2014. 

The Supreme Court ruled that Group 24 is an extremist organization, and therefore, it is banned in Tajikistan.  Its website and printed materials were also banned.