Status: de facto abolitionist

Legal Framework

The Constitution provides that: “Everyone has the right to life. No one shall be deprived of life except by order of the court for exceptionally grave crimes.” (Art. 18 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, 1994) In August 2003, the president signed legislation abolishing the death penalty for 10 crimes.(Law No. 45 “On amendments to the Criminal Code”, 2003)

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Status: de facto abolitionist

Legal Framework

The Constitution provides that: “Everyone has the right to life. No one shall be deprived of life except by order of the court for exceptionally grave crimes.” (Art. 18 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, 1994) In August 2003, the president signed legislation abolishing the death penalty for 10 crimes.(Law No. 45 “On amendments to the Criminal Code”, 2003) The death penalty was retained for five crimes: murder with aggravating circumstances, rape with aggravating circumstances, terrorism, biocide, and genocide.(Articles 104 (2), 138 (3), 179 (4), 399, and 398 of the Criminal Code, 1998, as amended 2003) On 30 November 2004, the lower chamber of Parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Code that provide for life imprisonment for these five crimes. (Law “On the introduction of amendments to the Criminal Code”, 2004) These amendments were endorsed by the upper chamber of Parliament on 11 February 2005 and signed by the president on 1 March 2005. The Criminal Execution Code has also been amended. (Law No. 86 “On amendments to the Criminal Code” and Law No. 87 “On amendments to the Criminal Execution Code”, 2005) The amendments introduce life imprisonment as an alternative to the death penalty for men between 18 and 63 years of age.

Moratorium

On 30 April 2004, the president announced the introduction of a moratorium on both the imposition and carrying out of death sentences and signed a subsequent law to that effect on 15 July 2004. The moratorium, which was applicable from the day of its announcement, is not limited to a specific time frame.

The moratorium applies to those who were sentenced to death prior to 30 April 2004 and to those convicted of crimes for which the death penalty is envisaged after 30 April 2004. In the former case, death sentences were to be commuted to 25 years’ imprisonment; in the latter case, a sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment was to be passed as opposed to the death penalty. As indicated above, however, life imprisonment was also introduced on 1 March 2005 as an alternative to the death penalty.

Official statistics on people currently subjected to the moratorium were not provided. (Statistics on death sentences and executions are classified. See Article 9 (22) of the Law “On the enumeration of information constituting a state secret”, 10 May 2002)

Method of execution

Shooting (Art. 219 (2) of the Criminal Execution Code, 2001. This article also provides that executions shall not be carried out in public)

Statistics

Death sentences

None

Executions

None

International Safeguards

Pregnant women and minors

Women and individuals who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime cannot be sentenced to death. (Art. 59 (2) of the Criminal Code, and Law No. 45 “On amendments to the Criminal Code”, 1 August 2003)

Fair-trial guarantees

In its concluding observations on the initial report submitted by Tajikistan, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concern about a number of relevant areas, including the widespread use of ill-treatment and torture by investigative and other officials to obtain information; testimony or self-incriminating evidence from suspects, witnesses or arrested persons; the absence of any provision prohibiting the use of unlawfully obtained evidence in Tajikistan’s criminal procedure law; widespread reports of the obstruction of detainees’ access to a lawyer; the lack of equality of arms between the suspect/accused or defence counsel and the prosecution both during a criminal investigation and in court, in particular that a prosecutor, rather than a judge, remained responsible for authorizing arrests; the lack of independence of the judiciary, as reflected in the process of appointment and dismissal of judges, as well as in their economic status; the military courts having jurisdiction to try criminal cases concerning both military personnel and civilians; and reports of several convictions in absentia, notwithstanding the prohibition by law of trials in absentia.(Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee: Tajikistan, U.N. Doc. CCPR/CO/84/TJK, 18 July 2005, paras. 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19)

On 30 December 2005, after his visit to Tajikistan, the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers welcomed a number of significant and far-reaching reforms affecting the judiciary that had been introduced in Tajikistan. However, he expressed his concerns about the dominant role of the prosecutor in the judicial process. He also noted the vulnerable position of lawyers, the lack of appropriate training on international standards governing the independence of the judiciary for all legal professions, and that the executive branch remained very influential in the selection and appointment procedures for judges.(Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, Addendum, Mission to Tajikistan, E/CN.4/2006/52/Add.4, 30 December 2005, paras. 85, 86, and 87)

Pardon or commutation

The Constitution gives the president authority to grant clemency.(Art. 59 of the Criminal Code) Death sentences may be commuted to 25 years’ imprisonment.(Art. 69 (27) of the Constitution. Art. 216 of the Criminal Execution Code provides that individuals sentenced to death can apply to the president for clemency) The cases of all individuals sentenced to death are automatically considered by the Clemency Commission regardless of whether the person sentenced to death has submitted an appeal for clemency.(The Commission was established by Presidential Decree No. 721, 8 May 1997) Sentences are not executed until a decision on clemency has been issued.

All existing death sentences imposed prior to the moratorium have been commuted.(Initial Report of Tajikistan submitted under Article 40 of the ICCPR, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/TJK/2004/1, 11 April 2005)

Relatives

Relatives are not informed in advance of the date of execution. The body is not returned, and the place of execution and the place of burial are not disclosed. (Art. 221 of the Criminal Execution Code. Information of this nature is treated as a state secret. Art. 9 (22) of the Law “On the enumeration of information constituting a state secret”, 10 May 2002.) The Criminal Execution Code provides that the court that passed the death sentence should inform the relatives of the fact that the execution has taken place; however, it does not indicate the time frame after execution during which this information should be made available to the relatives.

The UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concern about the fact that, when prisoners under sentence of death were executed, the authorities systematically failed to inform the families and relatives of the date of execution or to reveal the place of burial of the executed person. The Committee concluded that these practices amounted to a violation of Article 7 of the ICCPR (prohibition against torture or other ill-treatment) with respect to the family and relatives of the executed individuals. The Committee also concluded that those practices had the effect of intimidating or punishing families by intentionally leaving them in a state of uncertainty and mental stress. (Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee: Tajikistan, U.N. Doc. CCPR/CO/84/TJK, 18 July 2005, para. 9)

Relevant International Instruments

Updated: 2007

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