A U.S. government commission on religious freedom is recommending that Tajikistan be designated as a "country of particular concern" (CPC).

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in its annual report on April 26 that it is recommending Tajikistan be recognized as an offender along with 15 other countries.

The commission said the government of Tajikistan suppresses religious activity independent of state control, particularly of Muslims, Protestants, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and imprisons individuals on unfounded criminal allegations due to their Muslim identity.

In 2016, there were mass raids and arrests of alleged Salafi Muslims across the country, according to the report.  In 2015, a Tajik court banned as “extremist” the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT); since then, 150 IRPT members have been imprisoned, and 13 were sentenced to prison terms in June 2016, including two IRPT leaders who were jailed for life.

Jehovah’s Witnesses remain banned.  Based on these concerns, as it has since 2012, USCIRF again finds in 2017 that Tajikistan merits designation as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

The State Department designated Tajikistan as a CPC for the first time in February 2016 and did so again in October 2016.

Recommendations to the U.S. government: continue to designate Tajikistan as a CPC under IRFA; lift the waiver on taking an action as a consequence of the CPC designation and negotiate a binding agreement with the government of Tajikistan, under section 405(c) of IRFA, to achieve specific and meaningful reforms, with benchmarks that include major legal reform, an end to police raids, prisoner releases, and greater access to foreign coreligionists; condition U.S. assistance to the Tajik government, with the exception of aid to improve humanitarian conditions and advance human rights, on the government establishing and implementing a timetable of specific steps to reform the 2009 religion law and improve conditions of freedom of religion or belief; use targeted tools against specific officials and agencies identified as having participated in or responsible for human rights abuses, including particularly severe violations of religious freedom, such as the “specially designated nationals” list maintained by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, visa denials under section 604(a) of IRFA and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, and asset freezes under the Global Magnitsky Act; work with the international community, particularly during OSCE events on countering terrorism, to include private and public criticism of Tajikistan’s approach to regulating religion and countering extremism, which risks radicalizing the country’s population; urge the Tajik government to permit visits by the UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion or belief, the independence of the judiciary, and torture; set specific visit dates; and provide the full and necessary conditions for such visits; press for at the highest levels and work to secure the immediate release of individuals imprisoned for their peaceful religious activities or religious affiliations and press the Tajik government to treat prisoners humanely and allow them access to family, human rights monitors, adequate medical care, and lawyers and the ability to practice their faith; etc.

The USCIRF is a bipartisan U.S. federal government commission made of nine commissioners and headed by Reese -- a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter.

The commission was created by Congress in 1998 and issues an annual report each year, making recommendations and giving advice to the president, Congress, and the State Department on which countries are the worst violators of freedom of religion and beliefs.