Tajikistan should mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by ratifying the Disability Rights Convention

During the Universal Periodic Review of Tajikistan’s human rights record by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on 6 May 2016, over 20 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America recommended that Tajikistan ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a recommendation which was accepted by the Tajikistani authorities. More than 100 local, regional and international civil society organizations and independent experts jointly issuing this statement call on Tajikistan to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated annually on 3 December, by swiftly ratifying the Convention.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1992 to promote and draw attention to the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of life. Currently, a total of 175 countries around the world are States parties to the CRPD. From the Central Asian region Tajikistan is the only country that has neither signed nor ratified the Convention.^[1]

Tajikistani civil society groups providing support to and defending the rights of persons with disabilities have repeatedly raised concerns about discrimination in the areas of education, employment and health care. Ratification of the CRPD would be an important step toward ensuring that the human rights of this vulnerable group are respected and protected.

On 7 June 2017 President Emomali Rahmon signed into force the 2017-2020 National Action Plan on the Implementation of Recommendations by Member States of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the Context of the Universal Periodic Review (Second Cycle), in which the Tajikistani government undertook to sign the CRPD by the end of 2017 and tasked a working group to take the necessary steps to proceed to ratification. During the May 2016 Universal Periodic Review of Tajikistan, several states also recommended acceding to the CRPD Optional Protocol, which would enable individuals to lodge complaints with the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when they consider that their rights under the Convention have been violated in Tajikistan. The National Action Plan foresees studying the question of acceding to the Optional Protocol and reaching a decision by the end of 2020.

In recent years the Tajikistani authorities have taken some steps aimed at improving the situation of persons with disabilities. For example, in 2016 the Ministry of Health and Social Protection established a working group to set up a system of early diagnosis and intervention. The National Strategy for the Development of Education envisages the “gradual transfer of children with disabilities into general educational structures and taking respective measures to develop inclusive education in the Republic“ by 2030. In October 2016 the National Programme for the Rehabilitation of Disabled People (2017-2020) was adopted. In addition, the authorities provide some financial and social support to parents’ initiatives and organizations working with children with disabilities and promoting inclusion.

The civil society groups jointly issuing this statement believe that it is timely to call on the Tajikistani authorities to concretize their commitments towards persons with disabilities by swiftly ratifying the CRPD.

Tajikistani organizations:

1. Akhtari bakht
2. Alternative
3. Apeyron
4. Association of Parents of Children with Disabilities
5. Association of Victims of Mines and Other Explosives
6. Association of the Scientific-Technical Intelligenciya of Tajikistan
7. Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law
8. Center for the Support of Lonely Women "Nuri umed", Pendjikent
9. Committee of Parents of Children with Disabilities, Pandjikent
10. Council of Military Service Veterans, Sughd region
11. Dhakhonnamo
12. Dilafruz in Khatlon Region
13. Djakhon
14. Federation of checkers and chess players
15. Human Rights Center
16. Independent Center for Human Rights Protection
17. Information-Resource Center "Inclusion" GBAO
18. Initiative Group Youth against Corruption
19. Institute for the Social Rehabilitation of the Deaf "2 in the City of Dushanbe“
20. Iroda – Initiative of Parents with Children with Autism
21. Khayrandesh
22. Khayrkhokhi zamon
23. Kukhsor
24. League of Women Lawyers
25. League of Women with Disabilities "Ishtirok"
26. League of Women with Disabilities "Ishtirok" in Dangara Region
27. Legal Initiative
28. Madad
29. Majrukhon in the Town of Khorog
30. Mayuboni Tavono
31. MIR
32. Mirror
33. My Child
34. Nadjibullo
35. Nasl
36. National Association of Disabled People of Tajikistan in Bobojon Gafurov District in Sughd Region
37. National Association of Disabled People of Tajikistan in Djirgatil District
38. National Association of Disabled People of Tajikistan in Lakhsh District
39. National Association of the Blind of Tajikistan in the City of Dushanbe
40. National Association of the Blind of Tajikistan in the Town of Khujand
41. National Association of the Deaf
42. National Organization of Disabled People in Baldzhuvan District
43. National Union of Disabled People in Tajikistan
44. New Panorama
45. Notabene
46. Oksana in Djalolidin Balkhi District
47. Organization of Parents of Children with Developmental Challenges in the Town of Khujand
48. Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities "Savob"
49. Orzui Chavonon, Khatlon Region
50. Office of Civil Freedoms
51. Otifa
52. Public Association of the Deaf "Equality", GBAO
53. Public Union of the Blind in the Town of Kanibadam
54. Public Health and Human Rights
55. Public Organization of Disabled People "Ravonbakhsh" in Khamadoni District
56. Public Organization of Disabled People "Ravonbakhsh" in Mir Sayid Ali Khamadoni District
57. Public Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities "Farokham"
58. Public Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities in Bobojon Gafurov Region "Chamani orzu "
59. Public Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities in the Town of Chkalovsk
60. Public Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities "Laylo"
61. Public Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities "Rushdi Inclusion"
62. Public Organization Zarshedabonu
63. Right and Prosperity
64. Samokh
65. Shifo
66. Society of Disabled People in Bobojon Gafurov Region
67. Society of Disabled People in the Town of Gissar
68. Takdir
69. Union of Chernobyl Victims in the Town of Gissar
70. Women's Center "Gulrukhsor"
71. Women with Disabilities "Safoi Konibodom"
72. World Rights
73. Young People with Disabilities "Durnamo"
74. Young People with Disabilities "Noil"
75. Your Choice
76. Zanoni Shark
77. Djafarbek Yuldashev, member of the NGO Coalition against Torture and Impunity
78. Fazliddin Khojayev, member of the NGO Coalition against Torture and Impunity
79. Nargis Khamrabayeva, member of the NGO Coalition against Torture and Impunity
80. Oynikhol Bobonazarova, member of the NGO Coalition against Torture and Impunity
81. Ranjet Yatimov, member of the NGO Coalition against Torture and Impunity
82. Zoir Razzakov, member of the NGO Coalition against Torture and Impunity

Regional and international organizations:

1. Amnesty International
2. Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement
3. Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House
4. Bir Duino, Kyrgyzstan
5. Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine
6. Centre for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Russian Federation
7. Citizens Watch, Russian Federation
8. Helsinki Association for Human Rights NGO Armenia
9. Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor, Armenia
10. Helsinki Committee of Armenia
11. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland
12. Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan
13. Human Rights Matter, Germany
14. IDP Women Association "Consent", Georgia
15. International Partnership for Human Rights, Belgium
16. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
17. Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims
18. Legal Transformation Center, Belarus
19. Macedonian Helsinki Committee
20. Moscow Helsinki Group, Russian Federation
21. Netherlands Helsinki Committee
22. Norwegian Helsinki Committee
23. Public Association "Dignity", Kazakhstan
24. Public Verdict Foundation, Russian Federation
25. Union women of the Don region, Russian Federation
26. Viasna Human Rights Centre, Belarus
27. Voice of Freedom, Kyrgyzstan