DUSHANBE, March 1, 2014, Asia-Plus -- The 2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices issued by the U.S. Department of State on February 27 note that Tajikistan is an authoritarian state that President Emomali Rahmon and his supporters, drawn mainly from one region of the country, dominated politically.

The constitution provides for a multi-party political system, but the government obstructed political pluralism, the report says, noting that the November 6 presidential election lacked pluralism, genuine choice, and did not meet international standards. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.

According to the report, the most significant human rights problems included torture and abuse of detainees and other persons by security forces; repression of political activism and restrictions on freedoms of expression and the free flow of information, including the repeated blockage of several independent news and social networking websites; and poor religious freedom conditions as well as violence and discrimination against women.

Other human rights problems reportedly included arbitrary arrest; denial of the right to a fair trial; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; prohibition of international monitor access to prisons; limitations on children’s religious education; corruption; and trafficking in persons, including sex and labor trafficking.

The report says that officials in the security services and elsewhere in the government acted with impunity.  There were very few prosecutions of government officials for human rights abuses.  The courts reportedly convicted one prison official for abuse of power, and three others were under investigation for human rights abuses.