Tajik defense ministry admits conscript beaten to death

The Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan (MoD) has admitted that the 22-year-old conscript who died on June 7 was severely beaten.

Firdavs Rahmatov from the city of Khujand, the capital of Sughd province was called up for military service on May 7 and on June 7 his body was handed over to his father Ghani Rahmatov.

Firdavs had served in military unit 04080 deployed in the northern city of Konibodom.

Ghani Rahmatov writes on Facebook page that his son died after being severely beaten by older soldiers.

Meanwhile, according to the results of the forensic medical examination, Firdavs Rahmatov died from closing of the respiratory tract.

But his father does not believe the forensic medical examination results.

A statement released by a MoD on June 11 notes that the Sughd military prosecutor’s office has instituted criminal proceedings to investigate the soldier’s death.

“Besides, a special commission has been sent to military unit 04080 to study details of the death of Firdavs Rahmatov and establish the cause of the death,” the statement says noting that the tragedy took place outside the unit territory during the field training exercise.

The MoD assures that those guilty in the soldier’s death will be brought before the court.

We will recall that a military court in Dushanbe convicted six Interior Ministry soldiers of hazing and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two to 2 1/2 years on May 5.  The servicemen severely beat fellow soldier Akbarkhoja Abdurahmonov in November, shattering his jaw.

The trial was one of several in recent months targeting servicemen accused of such abuse.  But lawyers for the defendants said that, by law, the punishment for the crime they were convicted of ranges from five to 10 years in prison.

Human rights organizations in Tajikistan have criticized the government for not doing enough to stop hazing in the military.

In a recent change, Tajikistan’s government now allows soldiers to telephone the military prosecutor's office to report alleged hazing.

In January, a military court in Dushanbe sentenced three soldiers of the State Committee for National Security to five years in jail each for bullying and beating nine new conscripts.

In June 2014, an army sergeant in northern Sughd province was sentenced to nine years in prison for beating a conscript to death.  Also in June, a military court in Dushanbe sentenced a military doctor to nine years in jail for hazing, inflicting bodily harm, and leaving a serviceman in danger.