On April 11, a historic event took place for the people of Tajikistan. Tajikistan’s main banned opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party (PRIT), announced that it had officially lodged a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the regime of President Emomali Rahmon, alongside two international NGOs.
“Finally, it’s done!” wrote exiled PRIT leader Muhiddin Kabiri on Twitter (X).
” I hope [Rahmon] will soon answer for all the crimes committed against the Tajik people. It took four years of work, the nation has been waiting for this day.”
A complaint based on 15 years of evidence
The other two plaintiffs in the case are Freedom for Eurasia and the Ukrainian Fund for International Volunteers. According to their lawyer, Nicolas Ligneul, the complaint is based on evidence gathered over the past 15 years concerning 60 specific cases of serious violations: arbitrary detentions, torture, rape, prolonged isolation, enforced disappearances, forced exile and murder.
According to the complaint, these acts are not isolated but constitute a coordinated state policy aimed at eradicating political opposition, and especially members and supporters of PRIT – banned since 2015.
“Faced with the total absence of domestic remedies, the international route is the only hope of justice for the victims,” asserts Maître Ligneul in a press release.
The ICC, last resort for a gagged people
While this is a symbolically significant step, there is still a long way to go before the ICC makes a decision. The examination of admissibility and the preliminary investigation phase could take several years. But for the victims, this is the first breach in the wall of impunity erected over two decades ago.
President Rahmon, in power since 1992, has stepped up arrests of opponents, secret trials and crackdowns on critical voices. The once-legal PRIT, a member of the government, was accused of an attempted coup without transparent proof. Its leaders were arrested, exiled or sentenced to long prison terms.
Other pressures: the Rogoun dam controversy
At the same time, the regime is facing another source of pressure: the growing controversy surrounding the Rogoun hydroelectric dam project, considered to be the flagship of the country’s energy policy.
An independent body associated with the World Bank – one of the main backers of the project – is currently investigating possible breaches of safeguard procedures in the funding approval process.
On April 13, Rahmon convened an exceptional meeting with senior World Bank representatives, including Anna Bjerde (Director of Operations) and Antonella Bassani (Vice President for Europe and Central Asia). According to the official Tajik media, discussions focused on the export of clean energy and the development of a “green economy”. But the unusual timing of the meeting seems to reflect a growing nervousness at the top of the power structure.
Photo: president.tj
