 The first round of consultations was held in Dushanbe on 22 June 2010 where four areas of collaboration were defined: 1. Reporting with a focus on the Universal Periodic Review, 2. Migration, 3. Women’s Rights and domestic violence, 4. Death Penalty and Detention.
The Human Rights Programme also aims at sensitizing the governmental institutions towards the respect of human rights as being the legal precondition for a stable political, social and economic situation of a country. After its successful initiation a second round of consultations between the two parties took place in Berne and Zurich on 12. /13. May 2011.
The third round of Human Rights consultations, based on reciprocity, will be held in Dushanbe on 24-25 April 2012.
A Human Rights Advisor is supporting the process on the ground by closely cooperating with responsible governmental authorities and with civil society representatives as well as by acquiring and accompanying new projects related to the programme.
In the frame of the Human Rights programme, several projects in the four defined areas have meanwhile been initiated and completed with positive results: In regard to Tajikistan’s review on 3 October 2011 of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the programme supported the NGO Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law in preparing the alternative UPR report. At the same time, in cooperation with the UN OHCHR, an international expert was invited to provide expertise to the government working group on drafting the national UPR report. A study tour of both parties to Geneva to attend HRC’s sessions on other countries under review completed this module.
In the field of Migration/Gender, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) was implementing the pilot project Legal Empowerment for Migrant Households Headed by Women with the focus on the legal support of abandoned women of labour migrants in the Kuljab area. Furthermore, the NGO Human Rights Center is being supported in assisting Tajikistan in meeting its obligations to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers through UN Mechanisms. The training for journalists on domestic violence and gender mainstreaming issues and the support of the government Working Group on drafting the Domestic Violence Law by the GOPA Consortium/Prevention of Domestic Violence Project was another component of this module. Presently, the Human Rights Programme, in cooperation with the NGO Academy of Dialogue is working with the consultative group composed by government representatives and parliamentarians, to incorporate recommendations from the civil society and government bodies into the draft law on domestic violence. On the other hand, Swiss funding of the project Promotion of the Abolition of Death Penalty in Tajikistan through the NGO Nota Bene aimed at sensitizing the government and civil society towards the abolition of the death penalty. One of the highlights since the inception of the programme was the holding of the International Conference “Central Asia without Death Penalty”, co-funded by the International Commission against Death Penalty (ICDP) and Open Society Institute, in Dushanbe on 17 May 2011. The immediate objectives of this conference, was to raise awareness of key decision-makers on the need to abolish the death penalty de-jure in Tajikistan. Former President of Switzerland and member of ICDP, Mrs. Ruth Dreifuss held a key-note speech and underlined with her presence the importance of the event. As a follow-up to the conference, the Human Rights Programme supported the NGO League of Women Lawyers in establishing a website on the abolition of death penalty in the country (http://www.deathpenaltyabolition.tj). In February 2012 a new project with the League was signed to raise awareness amongst population on the abolition of death penalty in 12 regions of Tajikistan.
Photo : President Rakhmon and Federal Councillor Calmy-Rey (NIAT Khovar)
Contacts:
Swiss Cooperation Office in Tajikistan
Ms. Patricia Dvoracek
Human Rights Advisor
3, Tolstoy Street, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Phone: +(992 37) 224 73 16
Phone/ Fax: +(992 44) 600 54 55
e-mail: dushanbe@sdc.net; patricia.dvoracek@sdc.net
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