Sep 30, 2021

For many years, USCIRF has been deeply concerned about religious freedom conditions in Central Asia, and more recently the impact of the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan on the surrounding region.

Since 2012, USCIRF has recommended that the State Department designate Tajikistan a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), in response to the government’s increasing repression following the passage of a strict religion law in 2009. The State Department followed this recommendation in 2016 and has designated Tajikistan a CPC every year since.

USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Jason Morton joins us to discuss religious freedom conditions in Tajikistan as well as how recent developments in neighboring Afghanistan potentially complicate these conditions. He also explores the danger of using security challenges to curb religious freedom.

Click here to view USCIRF’s hearing on religious regulation in Russia and Central Asia

Click here to read USCIRF’s report on the abuse of extremism and terrorism laws in Tajikistan

Follow the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast on  iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, and Google Podcasts to get notifications of our weekly episodes. 

 

 

 

Additional Name(s): Abudurezake Xiamuxiding, Abdurazaq Shamseden, 阿布杜热扎克•夏木西丁

Gender: Male

Perpetrator: China

Ethnic Group: Uyghur

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: Yes

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: Originally Life Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: April/18/1998

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity

Nature of Charges: Arms Trafficking & Illicit Use of Weapons Separatism

Abdurazzak Shamseden

Extra Bio Info:

Abdurazzak Shamseden is imprisoned in relation to his ethnoreligious identity. 

On April 18, 1998, authorities detained Shamseden after his nephew, Hammat Muhemmet, and other Uyghur youths clashed with police deployed from mainland China to patrol Ghulja city. Six of those youths, including Muhemmet, were killed by police.

In 1999/2000, Shamseden was reportedly sentenced to life in prison. He was reportedly tortured into confessing and denied due process. Shamseden is believed to have been charged with “splittism” and “illegally carrying and keeping arms, ammunition and explosives."

In August 2016, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region High People's Court reduced Shamseden's sentence He is expected to be released in 2036

Shamseden was last know to be serving his sentence at Urumqi No.1 Prison, but his exact whereabouts can no longer be accounted for. 

Publicly Available Information:

Additional Name(s): Abliz Tohtihaji, Abulizi Toheti, 阿布力孜·托乎提阿吉

Gender: Male

Current Location: Pailou Prison, Yarkand

Perpetrator: China

Ethnic Group: Uzbek

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Unspecified/Other

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: 7 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: May//2017

Date of Sentencing: August//2017

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Ethnoreligious Identity Religious Activity

Nature of Charges: Illegal Assembly

Abliz Tohti

Extra Bio Info:

Abliz Tohti is imprisoned for his ethnoreligious identity and religious activity. 

In May 2017, authorities arrested Tohti alongside 15 other men reportedly on the charge of “illegal gathering and organizing." Tohti was member of a meshrep that had previously collected money for local religious leaders who were later arrested in 2014 on alleged "extremism" charges.  At the time, Tohti was also detained on "extremism" charges but eventually released.  He and his colleagues stopped all the meshrep's activities afterwards; however, reporting indicates that Tohti's current charges date back to the 2014 incident.

In August 2017, Tohti was sentenced to seven years in prison. 

At the time of his arrest, Tohti was an official at the Kashgar Transportation Bureau. He is a father of four.

Publicly Available Information:
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