Welcome to Central Asia in Focus, a newsletter offering insight and analysis on events shaping the region’s political future. I’m Bruce Pannier. In this month’s edition: Tajik authorities display a diminishing care about international criticism over human rights; Russian authorities consider charging fees for remittance transfers; and more.

In the Region

No Rights in Tajikistan

Injustice was on public display in Tajikistan during the first week of February.

Alleged coup plotters were convicted on flimsy charges at a closed trial, a young journalist was convicted on unexplained charges, and the OSCE said it could not send observers to Tajikistan’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Tajik government has a reputation for human rights abuses.

However, the series of events over the course of just a few days demonstrates Tajik authorities no longer care about international criticism or fear repercussions.

On February 5, Tajikistan’s Supreme Court convicted eight people for allegedly plotting a coup.

The eight include former government officials and politicians.

One was 73-year-old Akbarsho Iskandarov, who briefly served as Tajikistan’s acting president in 1991 and again in 1992 and has not been politically active for many years.

Iskandarov and three others received 18-year prison sentences.

Hamrokhon Zarifi, a former foreign minister, and Saidjafar Usmonzoda, the former leader of Tajikistan’s pro-government Democratic Party, were each sentenced to 27 years in prison.

One other person received a 17-year sentence. The prison term of the last defendant was not clear.

The court also convicted journalist Ruhshona Khakimova, sentencing her to eight years in prison.

Khakimova is the niece of Shokirjon Khakimov, a human rights lawyer and the deputy leader of the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan, who was one of those sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment.

Ruhshona Khakimova is the mother of two small children, the youngest of whom is eight months old.

Human Rights Watch reported in January that Khakimova was likely facing accusations of treason, but charges were never disclosed as Tajik authorities declared her case “secret.”

Tajikistan is scheduled to conduct parliamentary elections on March 2.

On February 4, the OSCE released a statement saying it was canceling its observation mission for those elections due to a “lack of assurance by the authorities of Tajikistan” about extending accreditation.

Why It’s Important: Tajikistan’s government has been arresting and imprisoning anyone whom authorities view as a potential threat for nearly a decade.

Many are convicted at closed trials. Their cases are declared state secrets, so it is impossible to know what evidence was brought against the defendants.

In journalist Khakimova’s case, it was never clear outside the courtroom what specific charges she was facing.

Upcoming parliamentary elections will not be free nor fair and government election officials conducting the poll probably already know which parties will win seats and how many they will receive.

Not so many years ago, Tajik officials would have spoken publicly about the legal charges in high-profile trials.

Even if the official version seemed dubious or outright ridiculous, someone in the government at least offered the state narrative.

Not anymore.

Detentions, arrests, and imprisonments are announced, but not the facts surrounding these cases, or the reasons for decisions such as not accrediting OSCE observers.

Russia Considering Charging Fees for Remittance Transfers

Central Asian migrant laborers working in Russia send billions of dollars to their families back home every year.

The money also accounts for significant percentages of the GDPs of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

Now Russian State Duma Deputy Sergei Mironov is proposing that Russian authorities charge fees for international transfers of money by foreign citizens.

Millions of citizens from Central Asia are working in Russia to support families back home.

Mironov claimed citizens of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan alone transferred more than $14 billion from Russia in 2024.

“The vast majority of migrant laborers do not pay taxes in Russia,” Mironov said, adding “they withdraw huge amounts of money [from Russia].”

The Russian deputy proposed a three percent charge on all money transfers out of Russia.

Using the examples of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Mironov claimed his proposed transfer fees from just those two countries would have brought 45 billion rubles (about $464 million) to Russia’s state coffers.

Why It’s Important: If migrant laborers are not paying taxes, as Mironov asserts, then charging a transfer fee of some sort for money being sent out of Russia doesn’t sound so outrageous.

However, migrant laborers in Russia already face an increasing number of rules since the March 2024 terrorist attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that left more than 140 people dead.

Russian authorities accused Tajik nationals, some of them migrant laborers, of carrying out the attack.

Since then, Russian authorities have introduced new regulations on entering Russia and obtaining work permits, limited the professions in which migrant laborers can work, enacted new rules for non-Russian citizens to attend public school, and more.

Mironov is one of the Russian politicians who has supported these changes.

Central Asian migrant laborers continue to work in Russia despite the new restrictions, but their numbers are slowly dwindling.

A transfer fee probably won’t deter many from seeking employment in Russia, but it will lead to more Central Asians looking into the growing prospects for work in other countries.

Majlis Podcast

The latest Majlis podcast looks at a recent report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) that shows a deterioration in respect for human rights in Central Asia.

The guests on the podcast are:

• Syinat Sultanalieva, HRW’s researcher covering Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and
• Hugh Williamson, HRW’s director for Europe and Central Asia.

What I’m Following

Uzbekistan Returns Military Helicopters to the United States

Uzbekistan sent seven Black Hawk helicopters back to the United States that were flown from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan as the Taliban were advancing in August 2021.

The seven Black Hawks were among 46 U.S.-made warplanes and helicopters Afghan pilots flew to Uzbekistan as the Ashraf Ghani government was falling.

The aircraft have been sitting in Uzbekistan ever since.

In late August 2024, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Johnathan Henick said most of those aircraft would be handed over to Uzbekistan.

The Taliban have repeatedly demanded the return of those aircraft, claiming they belong to Afghanistan.

On February 8, the Taliban Defense Ministry called the transfer of the Black Hawk helicopters “unacceptable.” 

The Aga Khan Dies

Prince Karim Aga Khan IV died in Portugal at age 88 on February 4.

The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of the Shi’ite Ismaili Muslims, more than 200,000 of whom live in Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO).

The Aga Khan and his Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) have invested $1 billion in GBAO since 1995, providing a lifeline to the remote region that has received minuscule funding from the Tajik government.

The Tajik government has been conducting a repressive campaign in GBAO since violence broke out there in May 2022 and has seized many of the facilities the AKDN built there.

The AKDN is also active in Afghanistan and some 30 other countries. 

Fact of the Week

The combined trade of the five Central Asian states with China amounted to $98.4 billion in 2024.

The Central Asian states’ combined trade with Afghanistan totaled $1.696 billion last year.

Thanks for Reading

Thanks for reading Central Asia in Focus! I appreciate you sharing it with other readers who may be interested.

Feel free to contact me on X, especially if you have any questions, comments, or just want to connect about topics concerning Central Asia.

Until next time,
Bruce

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