Meirkhaim Gavrielov (25 August 1927 – 9 June 1998) (russian: Миерхаим Гавриэлов) was a Bukharan Jewish journalist murdered in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Life

Meirkhaim Gavrielov was a prominent member of the

Tajikistani The Demographics of Tajikistan is about the demography of the population of Tajikistan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the popu ...

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

for fifty years. Gavrielov was born in 1927 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

at Samarkand State Pedagogical Institute. Gavrielov relocated to Tajikistan and in 1947 he began work as a writer and editor at the staff of the newspaper '' Tojikistoni Soveti'' (Тоджикистони Совети). From 1966 through 1974 he taught journalism in the Tajik Philology department of Tajik State University. From 1979 to his death Gavrielov held the position of editor-in-chief of the Tajik Agrarian University newspaper "Donish" (Дониш). Gavrielov excelled in his field and became a member of the Union of the Journalists of Tajikistan and Union of the Writers of Uzbekistan. He was published under the pseudonym Meir Khalabi (Мэир Халаби), and in the years before his death he wrote several books. In addition to his work as a journalist and author, Gavrielov was a leader of the Bukharan Jewish community in Dushanbe. He served as chairman of the Bukharan Jews' Cultural Society, Khoverim (Ховерим), and was a member the Bukharan Jewish Section of the Writers Union of Tajikistan. At the time of his death Gavrielov was seventy years old and had survived the brutal 1992-1997

civil war in Tajikistan The Tajikistani Civil War ( tg, Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, translit=Jangi shahrvandiyi Tojikiston / Çangi shahrvandiji Toçikiston; russian: Гражданская война в Таджикистане), also known ...

that ravaged the country. But Gavrielov’s profession was a dangerous one, as more than 60 journalists were killed in Tajikistan in the 1990s, and prominent individuals throughout the country were routinely assassinated.

Murder

At approximately 11:00 p.m. on 8 June 1998, unidentified persons entered the home of Gavrielov in

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (ru ...

, beat him, and then strangled him to death with a metal wire. The killing was a shocking incident, but not uncommon in Tajikistan. Initially the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

reported Gavrielov’s death as a suicide and claimed that Gavrielov had suffocated himself with a pillow. Later the facts surrounding Gavrielov’s death emerged after international scrutiny of the killing. It is uncertain whether or not Gavrielov's Jewish faith had any connection to this death.

International reaction

Gavrielov’s murder aroused international condemnation and investigations from groups such as

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

and

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...

Glasnost Defense Foundation Glasnost Defense Foundation is a non-profit organization with the stated goals of the defense of journalists, journalism, and freedom of expression in Russia. Its president is Alexei Simonov, a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and the President ...

wrote an appeal addressed to President

Emomali Rahmonov Emomali Rahmon (; born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov, tg, Эмомалӣ Шарӣпович Раҳмонов, script=Latn, italic=no, Emomalī Sharīpovich Rahmonov; ; born 5 October 1952) has been the 3rd President of Tajikistan since 16 Novem ...

to vigorously investigate Gavrielov killing and prosecute the murders. There was no reply. The perpetrators of Gavrielov’s murder remain anonymous and unpunished.

Works

Meirkhaim Gavielov wrote the following books: *Солхо ва кисматхо (Solho va Kismatho), 1994. *Андешахо, андешахо (Andeshaho, andeshaho), 1995. *Маресеви точик (Maresevi Tojik), 1995. *Гуломи илм (Ghulomi Ilm), 1995.

Resources

External links