The November 6 presidential election is, in effect, limited to one
candidate--the incumbent President Emomali Rakhmonov. Two of three
opposition presidential candidates, Saifiddin Turaev from the Party of
Justice and Sulton Kuvvatov from the Democratic Party (Tehran
Platform), have been denied registration by the Supreme Court, despite
their claims that authorities obstructed them from collecting sufficient
signatures for registration. A third candidate, Davlat Usmon from the
Islamic Renaissance Party, has been granted last-minute registration by
the Supreme Court, despite his own claim that the decision is illegal as
he too was prevented from collecting sufficient signatures. Mr. Usmon
has asked the Central Electoral Commission to annull his registration,
effectively creating a one-candidate race. The United Tajik Opposition
(UTO) has withdrawn from the Commission on National Reconciliation (CNR)
and the Central Electoral Commission, claiming that in these conditions,
a free and fair poll is impossible.

That the one officially-permitted candidate chose to boycott the poll is
not surprising, since the government had, throughout 1999, sought to
impede and obstruct the work of opposition political parties. The 1999
Law on Presidential Elections required that candidates gather the
signatures of 5 percent of the electorate to secure nomination. By
charging party members with violations of the Law on Political Parties,
the government has banned much of the opposition--the Agrarian Party and
the National Unity Party are banned, the registration of the Party of
Justice and Progress has been annulled, the activities of the Party of
Economic and Political Revival of Tajikistan are suspended, and the
National Movement Party of Tajikistan has been denied registration.
Human Rights Watch has collected testimony from members of all of these
parties attesting to harassment and intimidation by authorities.
According to party leadership, in April 1999, after the National
Movement Party of Tajikistan submitted its party registration documents
to the Ministry of Justice, law enforcement officials and other local
officials began to interrogate party members. In some kishlaks
(villages) village administration chairmen and village council elders
led special meetings at which they issued threats to party members,
after which, many out of fear denied their membership. The party has
been denied registration by the Ministry of Justice, reportedly on the
grounds of "insufficient time to study all necessary documentation."

Party leaders nonetheless assert that the real reason behind the refusal
to register is the publication in the party newspaper Junbish (The
Movement) of the dissenting views of the Consultative Council of
Political Parties on the constitutional amendments, and statements by
the Agrarian Party of Tajikistan protesting its suspension by the
Supreme Court. Party leader Hokim Mukhabbatov described to Human Rights
Watch threats and intimidation from authorities following publication of
these materials. Notably, at present Junbish is no longer publishing,
as its editorship was informed recently by government printing house
management that it had received an order not to print the paper.
In mid-March 1999, the Ministry of Justice opened a criminal
investigation against the chairman of the Agrarian Party, Khikmatullo
Nasriddinov, alleging that party membership lists were fabricated.

According to Nasriddinov, however, many people when questioned by
members of law enforcement forces, concealed their membership out of
fear. The party's activities were subsequently suspended for six
months, and in September 1999, the Supreme Court suspended the party's
activities altogether, on the grounds that it had acted illegally in
participating in the Consultative Council of Political Parties while
under a six-month suspension order.

In September 1999, the Supreme Court annulled the registration of the
Party of Justice and Progress, charging that the party had technically
violated membership rules. As with the Party of the National Movement
of Tajikistan and the Agrarian Party, however, Party of Justice and
Progress leader Rakhmatullo Zoirov claimed that law enforcement
officials had visited party members' residences, posed threatening
questions, and that subsequently, many members had out of fear denied
their asssociation with the party. The Party of Economic and Political
Revival of Tajikistan, suspended by the Supreme Court for six months in
April 1999 on grounds of fabricated membership lists, delivered similar
testimony to Human Rights Watch.

The National Unity Party, banned by the Supreme Court in the wake of the
November 1998 attempted military rebellion in Leninabad oblast, suffered
a consistent pattern of government harassment and persecution from 1996
onwards.

Two of the parties who fielded presidential candidates denied
registration have suffered government harassment in recent weeks. In
the case of the Party of Justice, party members recounted to Human
Rights Watch how the chairman of the party, Abdurakhmon Karimov, was
seized and detained by law enforcement officials after the party held a
congress to nominate a presidential candidate, Saifiddin Turaev. Mr.
Karimov has alleged that he was beaten, threatened and otherwise
ill-treated in order to extract the confession that he had acted
illegally in organizing the congress. In the case of the Democratic
Party (Tehran Platform), one party member recounted to Human Rights
Watch how, on the eve of the closing date for submission of signatures
for candidate registration, he was arbitrarily detained by Ministry of
the Interior officials for two days in Kuliab. The officials kept him
without explanation, confiscated the signature lists, and released him
only when the registration period had officially expired. As recently
as October 21, during a press conference held by the three would-be
opposition presidential candidates, Democratic Party members told Human
Rights Watch how Ministry of Security representatives kept watch over
the proceedings with videocameras and miniature microphones.

Finally, Human Rights Watch has gathered evidence concerning the firing
or demotion of members of local government administrations upon their
refusal to join the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan, the
presidential party.

Freedom of expression

In the lead-up to the elections, tight government control of the media,
which has created a near vacuum of outlets for the expression of
independent or opposition views, has increased. The UTO has suspended
its participation in the Commission on National Reconciliation (CNR) in
protest at, among other things, lack of access to state media for
presidential candidates. The one Dushanbe-based newspaper which had
published the views of the UTO and other opposition parties, Junbish,
ceased publication in mid-October 1999, following threats and harassment
from authorities, and arbitrary denial to print at its regular state
printing press. In May 1999, when local journalists attempted to form
an association of independent broadcasters, they met with obstruction
and threats from government representatives. According to many sources,
authorities not only warned those involved that they risked losing their
jobs should they join the association, but also that the new association
is perceived as a forum to promote candidates for presidential
elections. At present, an uninterrupted laudatory publicity campaign
for President Rakhmonov continues to dominate state television and radio
broadcasts. Despite the fact that Davlat Usmon has repeatedly stated
that he has refused the offer of registration, state media continues to
present him as the second presidential candidate, without making mention
of his wish to decline registration. The political opposition not
belonging to the UTO enjoys no access whatsoever to the state media.
At the present time, only one independent newspaper containing
substantial political information is in print in the capital, no
independent radio stations have been licensed to operate, and the
newspapers of several political parties have been arbitrarily denied
permission to print at government printing presses. At least one
Dushanbe-based independent news agency that since January 1999 has
attempted to found an independent radio station has consistently been
denied a registration license, while suspicious visits to its office by
tax officials have increased. Independent television and television
production stations continue to experience administrative and legal
harassment by authorities.

The September 26, 1999 Constitutional Referendum
The peace accord mandated that before elections could be held, Tajik
citizens should address fundamental questions on the nature of the
emerging state system in a constitutional referendum. The referendum,
held on September 26, 1999, gave a sad fortaste of the forthcoming
elections themselves. The fact that an important number of opposition
parties chose to boycott it entirely, and the extent and nature of the
violations and flaws which occurred, call into grave question the good
faith of the government in its commitment to create conditions for a
fair and open vote. Although officially passed by an overwhelming 92%
majority, the ballot was marked by widespread proxy and open voting, and
falsification of voter registration lists.

Security Concerns

As is well known, the personal security of most citizens remains
precarious due to overall lawlessness, high levels of criminal and
political violence, hostage-taking, and unprofessionalism and corruption
in law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. Two years after the
peace accord, citizens in Dushanbe still observe a self-imposed curfew.
Fear of unpredictable violence, often at the hands of government troops
or police has undoubtedly compromised the possibility of a free and fair
election.

In recent weeks, security has significantly worsened in in the capital.
In past months several citizens have been killed and others wounded
during daytime shootouts between supporters of a Ministry of the
Interior commander and former UTO fighters, at or near to one of the
main downtown Dushanbe bazars. As recently as October 18, a powerful
explosion occurred in the late afternoon in the city's central
department store, causing serious damage to the building, and wounding
at least three people. The past several weeks and months have also seen
an increase in the number of assassinations of and attacks on Ministry
of Interior officials in the capital, and assassinations of business
individuals and private citizens have also seen an increase in recent
months. Checkpoints manned both by Ministry of the Interior troops and
independent armed units continue to extort money from drivers and
passengers and otherwise harass citizens, considerably limiting their
right to freedom of movement. Even last week, Human Rights Watch
received credible reports that an elderly citizen was shot to death by
armed elements staffing an unofficial checkpoint in the Anzob region.
The security situation in the northeast of the country has also become
more acute in recent days and weeks, and risks destabilizing the entire
region. In July, Tajikistan threatened to expel the approximately 1,600
Uzbek nationals who had fled political and religious persecution in
Uzbekistan. When armed members of the group subsequently fled from
Tajikistan into southern Kyrgyzstan in late July, they took local and
international hostages, and in August the Kyrgyz army, backed by Uzbek
warplanes, began an attack on the armed militants. There have been
ongoing reports from international and local sources that Tajik
nationals, including former members of the UTO, took up arms to join the
militants in Kyrgyzstan, subsequent to the August 3, 1999 announcement
of the disbandment of the UTO's armed forces, and subsequent to the
official completion of the demobilization process. Both the Tajik
government and international organizations have repeatedly expressed
disappointment at the unrealistically low numbers of weapons turned in
by former UTO fighters.

The majority of armed militants have now retreated to Tajikistan, and
have released the hostages. But the conflict is far from resolved by the
group's retreat: Uzbek president Islam Karimov, in a recent interview
with a Moscow newspaper, reportedly asserted that Uzbekistan has the
right to bomb fundamentalist camps in Tajikistan, just as Russia is
doing in Chechnya.

The state media has been virtually silent on all of the above issues,
resulting in fear and insecurity among the population. Further to an
August government statement asserting that the approximately 1,600 Uzbek
nationals had voluntarily left the country, to date there has been no
further official comment.