DUSHANBE, September 14, Asia-Plus -- A statement released by Human Rights Watch, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia today says the Tajik government should reverse its decision to order the closure of the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRP) and allow the party to operate freely.

Tajik authorities should also halt their ongoing campaign of harassment against the party and its members and allow independent political parties to operate freely in Tajikistan, the statement says.

According to the statement, the party, the second-largest in the country with an estimated 40,000 supporters, had been the only Islamic political party legally registered in Central Asia.  The ruling to revoke IRP’s status as  a national political party, effectively making its activities illegal, reportedly comes amid a worsening government crackdown on dissent, and after a long and harsh government-orchestrated campaign against the party.

“Given the steady, unmistakable decline of freedom of expression in Tajikistan over the past few years, we are not surprised by this deplorable decision to shut down the country’s most prominent opposition party,” said Bjorn Engesland, secretary general of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.  “This decision not only violates Tajikistan’s core human rights obligations; it has the potential to push legitimate political opposition underground, creating a serious risk of instability in the country.”

The statement says that in the March 2015 parliamentary elections, the IRP was completely shut out of parliament – the first time in Tajikistan’s modern history – in an election that monitors from the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said was marred by ballot-stuffing and government intimidation.

In June the party leader, Muhiddin Kabiri, went into exile, fearing prosecution on bogus charges. That month, 20 videos appeared online of party members saying they were “voluntarily” abandoning the party. The party’s deputy leader, Mahmadali Hayit, told Human Rights Watch that members were acting under pressure from regional officials.

The statement says the forced closure of the IRPT comes amid a more general crackdown on civil and political rights by the Tajik government. Authorities have imprisoned opposition activists and journalists, extradited and kidnapped government critics from abroad, and harassed nongovernmental organizations with onerous checks on their activities.

We will recall that the Ministry of Justice banned the IRP on August 28 and gave it 10 days to halt all activities.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, the IRP cannot legally continue its activities because it does not have enough members to qualify as an officially registered party.  The ministry said that all the party''s branches in 58 cities and districts across Tajikistan have been closed.

The ministry’s statement adds that the IRP would not be able to hold a scheduled party congress and that a temporary headquarters set up in a private home in Dushanbe was illegal.