Concerns regarding the arrest, torture, and tragic death of Tajik citizen Saidazam Rakhmonov in detention

Official Letter

From the Civil Committee for the Rescue of Political Prisoners and Hostages of Tajikistan

To:

The Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany,

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) of Germany,

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dushanbe,

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),

International Human Rights Organizations (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch)

Subject: Concerns regarding the arrest, torture, and tragic death of Tajik citizen Saidazam Rakhmonov in detention.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Civil Committee for the Rescue of Political Prisoners and Hostages has repeatedly reported via letters about human rights violations, particularly concerning detainees.

In recent months, several individuals in Tajik prisons have lost their lives due to denied timely medical care and torture.

However, the Tajik government continues to intensify pressure, arbitrarily detaining young people under the pretext of possessing a beard, collaborating with extremist organizations, possessing religiously themed videos, etc., without evidence, and holding them in detention for a specific period without informing their relatives of their whereabouts.

This is precisely what happened to Saidazam Rakhmonov, a 29-year-old citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan, who was married to a German citizen. This young man had traveled to Tajikistan after marrying a German citizen in order to arrange his documents.

You are well aware of the current situation in Tajikistan, as you had advised against traveling there. Unfortunately, young people living abroad sometimes trust the authorities’ promises of safety and amnesty and return to Tajikistan, only to be arrested at the airport itself.

Rakhmonov also trusted these promises and went to Tajikistan to arrange his documents as quickly as possible.

Saidazam Rakhmonov had been in Tajikistan for some time, awaiting his documents to return to his wife. However, when traveling to the Russian Federation, he was arrested at Dushanbe airport.

His family was unaware of this arrest. If his friends from Moscow had not informed them that Saidazam did not arrive and his family had not gone to his address, the security officials would have secretly buried him somewhere to cover up the crime.

Although he died on October 13, 2025, after a week in the custody of Tajik security services, due to the ongoing reforms in Tajikistan, his body was handed over to his family after several days under strict security supervision, and they themselves participated in his burial ceremony.

The security services labeled the cause of Rakhmonov’s death as «suicide,» but according to the family and independent sources, clear signs of torture, electric shock tool marks, and a broken leg were visible on his body.

The Tajik security authorities have not provided any official report on the cause of this young man’s death. Therefore, the Committee states that Saidazam Rakhmonov was a victim of torture and illegal detention.

Through this detention, the Tajik side has blatantly violated the provisions of the Convention against Torture (Articles 2, 4, and 12), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 6 and 7), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5).

In this context, the Committee respectfully requests the German authorities and human rights institutions to:

* Initiate an independent international investigation and inquest regarding the arrest and death of Saidazam Rakhmonov.

* Formally demand from the Tajik government the full disclosure of the case file and the conduct of an independent forensic and judicial examination with the participation of representatives of the German Embassy in Tajikistan.

* The results of this examination should be announced through the media, and the perpetrators of this crime must be held criminally accountable.

* A firm response from the international community regarding torture and the killing of Tajik citizens in security detention centers must be comprehensively assessed, and a stop must be put to illegal arrests.

* Demand that in case of arrest at the airport or other places, their families be notified within 24 hours, and detainees be provided with a lawyer from the first hour of detention.

Furthermore, democratic countries where Tajik citizens reside as refugees should exercise caution when requesting certain documents from them that are obtained through the Tajik embassy, as the rights of these citizens are violated within the embassy building itself, and they are kept in a state of fear and anxiety.

For example, there have been numerous complaints from Germany that when refugees apply to the embassy to obtain documents for their children, they are required to send their case files to the embassy, and only then can they receive the documents. This demand is, of course, contrary to international norms.

Today, the only way to end the crimes of the Rahmon government is for the democratic community to raise its voice in unison against such crimes.

The Civil Committee for the Rescue of Political Prisoners and Hostages is prepared to submit all available information for investigations.

Please, urgently place this case under formal review.

Civil Committee for the Rescue of Political Prisoners and Hostages

Warsaw,October 18, 2025

Respectfully,

Abdussattor Boboev, Chairman of the Сivil committee for the protection of political hostages and prisoners in Tajikistan