On 16-18, Ruth Dreifuss, Member of the ICDP and former President of Switzerland, undertook a country mission to Tajikistan in order to participate in the International Conference “Central Asia without Death Penalty” as well as to meet several key actors of the abolitionist process. Ms Dreifuss was accompanied by Christian Durisch, Coordinator/Advisor of the Secretariat of the ICDP.
The International Conference “Central Asia without Death Penalty” took place on 17 May 2011 at the presidential residence near Hissar. The event was organized by the League of Women Lawyers and the governmental Working Group on the Death Penalty, in collaboration with the Open Society Institute and the Swiss Cooperation Office. The participants had the chance to learn from the wide ranging experiences of the invited experts from abroad like Ms Dreifuss and speakers from other Central Asian countries. The event gave a platform to both governmental and civil society representatives of Tajikistan to exchange their views on the question of abolition in order to take this process further. A declaration with several recommendations was adopted at the end of the conference. Read the key-note speech by Ms Dreifuss ”Towards a World without the Death Penalty“. For extensive information on the conference itself visit the official website of the conference.
Besides participating in the Conference, Ms Dreifuss met with several key actors. Among the high governmental representatives figure Mr Davlatov, State Advisor of the President on Legal Policy and Head of the Working Group on the Death Penalty; Mr Rakhimov, First Deputy Minister of the Interior; Mr Salimzoda, Prosecutor General; Mr Abdulloev, Chairman of the Supreme Court and Mr Zukhurov, Speaker of the Parliament. Ms Dreifuss furthermore met with the Ombudsman Mr Alizoda, as well as with other political actors and parliamentarians of Tajikistan, such as the Head of the Social Democratic Party and the Leader of the Islamic Revival Party. Noteworthy were the meetings with local civil society Group photo of the participants of the international conference "Central Asia Without Death Penalty"representatives, in particular, the League of Women Lawyers and Nota Bene.
The presence of Ms Dreifuss in Tajikistan attained broad media coverage. National TV, radios, newspapers and internet based news platforms reported on the participation of Ms Dreifuss in the conference or interviewed her directly.
Please click here on the report published by the OSCE on the death penalty (” The Death Penalty in the OSCE area”) which refers to the ICDP mission to Tajikistan
