On 26 of June the whole world will commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1997 with a view to eradicate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (TCIDT) and ensure the effective functioning of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

On 15 of June, the NGO Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan launched a campaign "Support the victim of torture! Stop impunity!", that will last throughout 26th of June.

Starting from 15 of June the Coalition will publish one story per day about the victims of torture and ill treatment on its website and social media accounts.

What can you do? Add comments under the stories; send messages of encouragement for the victims of torture and ill-treatment and their families. You can also contribute by sending a short video (maximum 2 minutes) and download it under the concrete story using the #notorturetj hashtag or send it to the Coalition’s e-mail notorture.tj@gmail.com, as well by reposting the stories.

All words of encouragement will be delivered to the victims of torture and ill-treatment and their families, and published on the Coalition’s website on the final day of the campaign.

Support the Victims of Torture! Stop impunity!

3. Firdavs Rakhmatov

According to his parents, the twenty-one-year old Firdavs Rakhmatov was drafted to the military service in violation of the call procedures, during the so-called “draft raid”. Being a student of the Khujand State University, Firdavs was unreasonably detained on the street and was forced to join the army on 7 May 2015. He served in the military unit №04080 in Kanibadam city, Sughd region. Later his father on his Facebook account mentioned that not long before his death, Fridavs was complaining about the beatings by the other soldiers, but declined the his father’s offer to complain on such actions, fearing further repressions.

On 7 June, Firdavs’s parents were informed about his death and the same day his body was sent for burial. Parents reported that they found numerous bruises on Firdavs body and his father posted a few pictures as evidence on his Facebook page.

On 10 June, the Sughd Military prosecution Office charged two servicemen with “abuse of authority” (Article 391, part 3 of the Criminal Code), and one soldier with “violation of the Military Code" (Article 373, part 2).

According to the official source of all three servicemen were taken into custody. Official sources informed the media that the Command Officers of the Military Unit 04080 were dismissed from their posts.  The convicts allegedly forced more twenty fellow soldiers to stand in a row during a military exercise on 7 of June and starting beating and abusing them what caused the death of Firdavs Rakhmatov.