CIVICUS discusses civic space conditions in Tajikistan with Leila Seiitbek, a human rights lawyer and chairperson of Freedom for Eurasia, a civil society organisation that documents and exposes corruption, kleptocracy and human rights abuses.
Since 2022, Tajikistan’s government has dramatically escalated its campaign against civil society activists, journalists and opposition figures. In early 2025, exiled Tajik activists filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing senior officials of crimes against humanity including arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances. This legal action comes amid heightened persecution of the ethnic Pamiri minority in the autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan and a rapid closure of civic space characterised by ruthless intimidation and systematic silencing of government critics.
