Germany Should Request His Release; Ensure He Is Not Mistreated
(Berlin, November 20, 2024) Dilmurod Ergashev, a Tajik opposition activist deported from Germany on November 6, 2024, after being refused asylum, is reported to have been provisionally detained for two months by a city court in Dushanbe on unclear charges, Human Rights Watch, Freedom for Eurasia, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and Abschiebungsreporting NRW said today. Ergashev is currently in a Dushanbe hospital due to medical concerns, a source familiar with his situation told the groups.
Germany should urgently press Tajikistani authorities to release Ergashev or make clear the reason for his detention and ensure he is provided with necessary medical care and not mistreated. Erghashev was deported after a German court questioned concerns raised by himself and human rights groups that he would be detained on arrival in Tajikistan.
“Germany has again failed to uphold the necessary safeguards to protect those in danger of mistreatment if they are deported,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Ergashev’s participation in protests in Germany made him a clear target, and his immediate detention is a testament to that. Germany should investigate why this happened”
In the morning of November 7 officers of the German Federal Police handed Ergashev over to the Tajikistan authorities at the Dushanbe airport. According to witness statements, Tajikistani authorities immediately handcuffed Ergashev, placing a black bag over his head before putting him into a vehicle and driving away.
Dilmurod Ergashev was detained in Kleve, near the border with the Netherlands, on October 28, and a city court ordered on the same day Ergashev’s deportation. Although his previous asylum requests have been denied, Ergashev’s lawyer initiated another asylum request to oppose the deportation order. Upon learning the court had rejected the request and upheld his deportation order, Ergashev reportedly attempted to take his own life by inflicting multiple cuts to himself. Several deep injuries required medical treatment. The deportation still proceeded, however.
According to Ergashev’s lawyer, the court questioned whether his opposition activities were genuine despite Ergashev’s public participation in protests in Germany against the Tajikistan government and said he was using them to increase the possibility of gaining asylum.
In 2023, Germany on separate occasions deported two Tajik dissidents, Abdullohi Shamsiddin and Bilol Qurbonaliev, to Tajikistan. Upon arrival they were immediately detained and later sentenced to seven and ten years in prison respectively, based on bogus charges of attempts to overthrow the constitutional order and organization of criminal groups. Shamsiddin has reportedly been mistreated in detention.
Closely associated with an opposition movement Group 24 banned in Tajikistan and part of the Reforms and Development of Tajikistan movement formed by exiled Tajikistani dissidents, Ergashev has taken part in several demonstrations in Berlin in front of Tajikistan’s embassy, including the September 2023 protest during Tajikistani President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to Germany. These demonstrations were reported in the Tajikistan media, making Ergashev recognizable as an opposition activist.
German authorities should launch an enquiry into the circumstances of his deportation and investigate why it allowed the removal of a person to a country where there is a clear danger of torture. International law, including multiple treaties to which Germany is bound, prohibits “refoulement,” returning a person to a country where they are at risk of torture or cruel or inhumane treatment.
Tajikistan’s authorities systematically persecute opposition members, especially those they see as affiliated with banned movements, such as Group 24, both inside and outside the country. A recent Human Rights Watch report on this type of transnational repression cited Tajikistan as a country of major concern. The government regularly targets critics living abroad on charges of extremism and terrorism-related activities, leading to long jail terms and mistreatment if they are forcibly returned.
“Erghashev’s deportation should be a final wake-up call to German authorities to recognize the nature of the government in Tajikistan and immediately stop the practice of sending peaceful opposition activists to jail in Dushanbe,” Williamson said.
