TAJIKISTAN: REPRISALS AGAINST PAMIRI MINORITY SUPPRESSION OF LOCAL IDENTITY, CLAMPDOWN ON ALL DISSENT

The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) is a region in the remote Pamir mountains of East Tajikistan, the home of distinct ethnic groups. Together, they form the Pamiri minority communities whom the central authorities do not recognize as a minority. The Tajikistani state officially denies the existence of a Pamiri minority. However, despite regarding Pamiris as ethnic Tajiks, the central Tajikistani authorities have consistently subjected them to discrimination and promoted a culture of prejudice against them, and in recent years have stepped up their efforts to suppress the use of Pamiri languages, Pamiri cultural practices, and the expression of Pamiri identity.