Tajik President Urged To Take Measures Against Torture

Amnesty International has urged Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to take measures against widespread torture and other ill-treatment in Tajikistan's pretrial detention facilities. 

In a statement issued on October 5, Rahmon's 60th birthday, the London-based rights watchdog said it sought to remind people about the plight of many victims of torture, "some of whom did not survive to celebrate their 30th birthday or who spend their birthdays behind bars following unfair trails."

The group said it had compiled credible information about dozens of people who suffered torture and ill-treatment in the hands of government officials.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International issued a report that claimed the torture methods employed by Tajik authorities include electric shocks, suffocation, beatings, burnings with cigarettes or boiling water, rape, and threats of rape.