Group 24 (; ) is a political opposition movement in

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

. It opposes the rule of president

Emomali Rahmon Emomali Rahmon ( ; born 5 October 1952), born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmanov, is a Tajik politician who has served as the President of Tajikistan since 1994, having previously led the country as Chairman of the Supreme Assembly (Tajikistan), Su ...

, who it accuses of corruption and nepotism. Group 24 was founded in 2012 by businessman and politician

Umarali Quvvatov Umarali Izatovich Kuvvatov (; 21 November 1968 – 5 March 2015) was a Tajikistani businessman and politician. He was the leader of the opposition Group 24, which he had founded after going into exile in 2012. Although the Tajikistani authoriti ...

, who served as its leader until his assassination in 2015.

History

Establishment

Quvvatov, a businessman who formerly had ties to Rahmon's family, established Group 24 to campaign for democratic reforms in Tajikistan following the Gorno-Badakhshan clashes. The organisation became popular via social media, particularly among the Tajik diaspora.

Protests

On 10 October 2014, Quvvatov called for peaceful protests to be held in

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

against the government. The probability for mass protests was estimated as low by analysts who pointed to political apathy and the idea that protest is associated with anarchy, as promoted by the state. On 5 October, authorities had suspended the operation of

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systems and temporarily blocked at least 300 websites including

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and

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social networks. They increased law enforcement presence in the capital. No protests ultimately materialized. Members of Group 24 living outside of Tajikistan have subsequently protested state visits of Rahmon to the

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, and

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National ban

Amidst a government crackdown, Group 24 was banned by Tajikistan's

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on 9 October for alleged

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied sha ...

; this made membership or association with the organisation a criminal offence. Former members of the group called for the country's supreme court to remove the party from the list of banned extremist groups, arguing that the group poses no threat, though to date these calls have been unsuccessful.

Assassination of Umarali Quvvatov

Quvvatov was assassinated on 6 March 2015 in Turkey after being shot in the head by an unknown assailant. His death came two days after a Tajik court sentenced another member of Group 24 to 17 years in prison for attempting to seize power and insulting the president. President Rahmon's opponents accused authorities of orchestrating the assassination, as did international organisations including

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

. Following Quvvatov's death, the group elected his cousin, Sharofiddin Gadoev as its new leader. On 26 February 2016, Sulaimon Kayumov was sentenced to life imprisonment in Turkey for the assassination of Quvvatov.

Repression of membership

Some Tajik activists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their alleged association with Group 24. In March 2015 three people received sentences ranging from 16.5 to 17.5 years. In April, 2015, another two people were sent to prison for 3 and 3.5 years for the alleged organising of Group 24 activities. In July 2023,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

extradited Nizomiddin Nasriddinov, a Group 24 activist, to Tajikistan, despite him being granted refugee status in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

due to concerns he faced persecution and torture in Tajikistan due to his activism. Members of Group 24 have been detained and forcibly repatriated to Tajikistan from countries including Belarus, Russia, and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, among others.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Politics of Tajikistan