DUSHANBE, February 27, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov on February 27 recalled his order on mandatory fingerprinting for getting domestic and foreign passports as well as driving licenses, an official source at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) told Asia-Plus Wednesday afternoon.

According to him, the mandatory fingerprinting for getting domestic and foreign passports as well as driving licenses was introduced in the country on July 21, 2012 “for the purpose of proving somebody’s identity, carrying some search operations and improving the crime situation in the country.”

Meanwhile, under the country’s law on the state fingerprint registration, only the following persons should have their fingerprints taken: military personnel; law enforcement officers; detained and convicted persons; persons preventing from proving their identities while committing administrative violations; persons living in dangerous areas; foreign nationals and stateless persons deported from Tajikistan.

The law says nothing about persons getting a driving license or any other document in bodies of internal affairs.

Tajik human rights activist and lawyer, Sergey Romanov, says the RT Law “On the State Fingerprint Registration” and the rules of carrying out the state fingerprint registration endorsed by the government on September 21, 2000 do not contain conditions that would obligate future drivers to have their fingerprints taken.