Tajikistan Civil War
Encyclopedia
The Civil War in Tajikistan began in May 1992 when ethnic groups from the Garm
and Gorno-Badakhshan regions, which were underrepresented in the ruling elite, rose up against the national government of President Rahmon Nabiyev, in which people from the Leninabad
and Kulyab regions dominated. Politically, the discontented groups were represented by liberal
democratic
reformists and Islamists, who fought together and later organized under the banner of the United Tajik Opposition
. By June 1997 fifty to one hundred thousand people had been killed.
President Rahmonov, UTO leader Sayid Abdulloh Nuri
, and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General
Gerd Merrem signed the "General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan" and the "Moscow Protocol" on 27 June 1997 in Moscow
, Russia
, ending the war.
Safarali Kenjayev
orchestrated the dispersal of weapons to pro-government militias while the opposition turned to rebels in Afghanistan for military aid.
Fighting broke out in May 1992 between old guard supporters of the government and a loosely organized opposition composed of ethnic and regional groups from the areas Garm
and Gorno-Badakhshan (the latter were also known as Pamiris
). Ideologically, the opposition included democratic
liberal
reformists and Islamists. The government, on the other hand, was dominated by people from the Leninabad
i region, which had also made up most of the ruling elite during the entire Soviet period. It was also supported by people from the Kulyab region, who had held high posts in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Soviet times. After many clashes, the Leninabadis were forced to accept a compromise and a new coalition government was formed, incorporating members of the opposition and eventually dominated by them. On 7 September 1992, Nabiyev was captured by opposition protesters and was forced at gunpoint to resign his presidency. Chaos and fighting between the opposing factions reigned outside of the capital Dushanbe
.
With the aid of the Russia
n military and Uzbekistan, the Leninabadi-Kulyabi Popular Front forces routed the opposition in early and late 1992. The coalition government in the capital was forced to resign. In December 1992, the Supreme Soviet
(parliament), where the Leninabadi-Kulyabi faction had held the majority of the seats all along, convened and elected a new government under the leadership of Emomali Rahmonov
, representing a shift in power from the old power based in Leninabad
to the militia
s from Kulyab, from which Rahmonov came.
The height of hostilities occurred between 1992 and 1993 and pitted Kulyabi militias against an array of groups, including militants from the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
(IRP) and ethnic minority Pamiris from Gorno-Badakhshan. In large part due to the foreign support they received, the Kulyabi militias were able to soundly defeat opposition forces and went on what has been described by Human Rights Watch
as an ethnic cleansing
campaign against Pamiris and Garmis
. The campaign was concentrated in areas south of the capital and included the murder of prominent individuals, mass killings, the burning of villages, and the expulsion of the Pamiri and Garmi population into Afghanistan. The violence was particularly concentrated in Qurghonteppa
, the powerbase of the IRP and home to many Garmis. Tens of thousands were killed or fled to Afghanistan.
, or UTO. Elements of the UTO, especially in the Tavildara
region, became the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
, while the leadership of the UTO was opposed to the formation of the organization.
was deployed. Most fighting in the early part of the war occurred in the southern part of the country, but by 1996 the rebels were combating Russian troops in the capital city of Dushanbe
. Islamic radicals from northern Afghanistan
also began to fight Russian troops in the region. A UN
-sponsored armistice
finally ended the war in 1997. This was in part fostered by the Inter-Tajik Dialogue
, a Track II diplomacy
initiative in which the main players were brought together by international actors, namely the United States and Russia. The peace agreement completely eliminated Leninabad region (Khujand) from power. Presidential elections were held on November 6, 1999.
The UTO warned in letters to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
and Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov on 23 June 1997 that it would not sign the proposed peace agreement on June 27 if prisoner exchanges and the allocation of jobs in the coalition government were not outlined in the agreement. Akbar Turajonzoda
, second-in-command of the UTO, repeated this warning on 26 June, but said both sides were negotiating. President Rahmonov, UTO leader Sayid Abdulloh Nuri
, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin
met in the Kremlin
in Moscow
, Russia
on 26 June to finish negotiating the peace agreement. The Tajik government had previously pushed for settling these issues after the two sides signed the agreement, with the posts in the coalition government decided by a joint commission for national reconciliation and prisoner exchanges by a future set of negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov
met with the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to discuss the proposed peace accord.
By the end of the war Tajikistan was in a state of complete devastation. The estimated dead numbered from 50,000 to as many as 100,000. Around 1.2 million people were refugees inside and outside of the country. Tajikistan's physical infrastructure, government services, and economy were in disarray and much of the population was surviving on subsistence handouts from international aid organizations. The United Nations
established a Mission of Observers in December 1994, maintaining peace negotiations until the warring sides signed a comprehensive peace agreement in 1997.
Journalists were particularly targeted for assassination and dozens of Tajik journalists died. Many more fled the country, leading to a brain drain
. Notable individuals killed include journalist and politician Otakhon Latifi
, journalist and Jewish leader Meirkhaim Gavrielov
, politician Safarali Kenjayev
, and four members of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan
: Yutaka Akino, a noted Japan
ese scholar of Central Asian history, Major Ryszard Szewczyk from Poland; Major Adolfo Scharpegge from Uruguay; and Jourajon Mahramov from Tajikistan; and documentary filmmaker Arcady Ruderman
.
Garm, Tajikistan
Gharm, , is a district in the Rasht Valley area of central Tajikistan.From the 1920s until 1955 there was a Gharm Oblast in Tajikistan, which included the territory of the current Gharm Valley...
and Gorno-Badakhshan regions, which were underrepresented in the ruling elite, rose up against the national government of President Rahmon Nabiyev, in which people from the Leninabad
Leninabad
- Azerbaijan :*Leninabad, Nakhchivan*Leninabad, Shamkir*Sanqalan*Təklə, Gobustan...
and Kulyab regions dominated. Politically, the discontented groups were represented by liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
reformists and Islamists, who fought together and later organized under the banner of the United Tajik Opposition
United Tajik Opposition
The United Tajik Opposition was an alliance of democratic, liberal and Islamist forces that fought in the Tajik Civil War from 1992 to 1997 against administration of President Emomali Rahmonov....
. By June 1997 fifty to one hundred thousand people had been killed.
President Rahmonov, UTO leader Sayid Abdulloh Nuri
Sayid Abdulloh Nuri
Sayid Abdulloh Nuri , also transliterated as Abdullah Nuri, led the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan from 1993 until he died of cancer in late 2006. During the Tajik Civil War of 1992 to 1997 he led the United Tajik Opposition...
, and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
A Special Representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent her/him in meetings with heads of state on critical human rights issues...
Gerd Merrem signed the "General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan" and the "Moscow Protocol" on 27 June 1997 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, ending the war.
Background
Tensions began in the spring of 1992 after opposition members took to the streets in demonstrations against the results of the 1991 presidential election. President Rahmon Nabiyev and Speaker of the Supreme SovietSupreme Soviet
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments...
Safarali Kenjayev
Safarali Kenjayev
Safarali Kenjayev served as the Speaker of the Supreme Soviet in Tajikistan 1991–1992, Chairman of the Tajik Parliament's committee on human rights and legislation, and as head of Tajikistan's Socialist Party which he founded....
orchestrated the dispersal of weapons to pro-government militias while the opposition turned to rebels in Afghanistan for military aid.
Fighting broke out in May 1992 between old guard supporters of the government and a loosely organized opposition composed of ethnic and regional groups from the areas Garm
Garm, Tajikistan
Gharm, , is a district in the Rasht Valley area of central Tajikistan.From the 1920s until 1955 there was a Gharm Oblast in Tajikistan, which included the territory of the current Gharm Valley...
and Gorno-Badakhshan (the latter were also known as Pamiris
Pamiri people
Pamiri is the name of an Iranian ethnic group in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan.-Ethnic Identity:The Pamiris are composed of people who speak the Pamiri languages, the indigenous language in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous province, and adhere to the Ismaili sect of Shia...
). Ideologically, the opposition included democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
reformists and Islamists. The government, on the other hand, was dominated by people from the Leninabad
Leninabad
- Azerbaijan :*Leninabad, Nakhchivan*Leninabad, Shamkir*Sanqalan*Təklə, Gobustan...
i region, which had also made up most of the ruling elite during the entire Soviet period. It was also supported by people from the Kulyab region, who had held high posts in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Soviet times. After many clashes, the Leninabadis were forced to accept a compromise and a new coalition government was formed, incorporating members of the opposition and eventually dominated by them. On 7 September 1992, Nabiyev was captured by opposition protesters and was forced at gunpoint to resign his presidency. Chaos and fighting between the opposing factions reigned outside of the capital Dushanbe
Dushanbe
-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...
.
With the aid of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n military and Uzbekistan, the Leninabadi-Kulyabi Popular Front forces routed the opposition in early and late 1992. The coalition government in the capital was forced to resign. In December 1992, the Supreme Soviet
Supreme Soviet
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments...
(parliament), where the Leninabadi-Kulyabi faction had held the majority of the seats all along, convened and elected a new government under the leadership of Emomali Rahmonov
Emomali Rahmonov
Emomalii Rahmon has served as the head of state of the Republic of Tajikistan since 1992, under the position of President since 1994.-Biography:...
, representing a shift in power from the old power based in Leninabad
Leninabad
- Azerbaijan :*Leninabad, Nakhchivan*Leninabad, Shamkir*Sanqalan*Təklə, Gobustan...
to the militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s from Kulyab, from which Rahmonov came.
The height of hostilities occurred between 1992 and 1993 and pitted Kulyabi militias against an array of groups, including militants from the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan
The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan is an Islamist political party in Tajikistan. It is the only legal Islamist party in Central Asia...
(IRP) and ethnic minority Pamiris from Gorno-Badakhshan. In large part due to the foreign support they received, the Kulyabi militias were able to soundly defeat opposition forces and went on what has been described by Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
as an ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
campaign against Pamiris and Garmis
Garmis
The Gharmi, or Garmi people , are one of the original groups of Tajiks, originate from the Rasht Valley in central Tajikistan. From the 1920s to 1955 there was a Gharm oblast in Tajikistan, and henceforth people from central Tajikistan were known as Gharmis...
. The campaign was concentrated in areas south of the capital and included the murder of prominent individuals, mass killings, the burning of villages, and the expulsion of the Pamiri and Garmi population into Afghanistan. The violence was particularly concentrated in Qurghonteppa
Qurghonteppa
Qurghonteppa or Kurganteppa is a city in southwestern Tajikistan. It is the capital of the Khatlon region and it is located 100 km from Dushanbe. It is estimated that the population of the city is close to 85,000 people, making it the third-largest city in the country. The population...
, the powerbase of the IRP and home to many Garmis. Tens of thousands were killed or fled to Afghanistan.
Opposition reorganises
In Afghanistan the opposition reorganized and rearmed with the aid of the Jamiat-i-Islami. The group's leader Ahmad Shah Masoud became a benefactor of the Tajik opposition. Later in the war the opposition organized under an umbrella group called the United Tajik OppositionUnited Tajik Opposition
The United Tajik Opposition was an alliance of democratic, liberal and Islamist forces that fought in the Tajik Civil War from 1992 to 1997 against administration of President Emomali Rahmonov....
, or UTO. Elements of the UTO, especially in the Tavildara
Tavildara
Tavildara is a town in Tavildara district, Region of Republican Subordination, Tajikistan. It is also the district capital.Tavildara is one of the highest areas in central-eastern Tajikistan surrounded by Rasht Valley in the north and with Darvaz mountains in the south and highest Pamirs peaks in...
region, became the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a militant Islamist group formed in 1991 by the Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev, and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani—both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley...
, while the leadership of the UTO was opposed to the formation of the organization.
Continued stalemate and peace
Other combatants and armed bands that flourished in this civil chaos simply reflected the breakdown of central authority rather than loyalty to a political faction. In response to the violence the United Nations Mission of Observers in TajikistanUnited Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan
The United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan was a peacekeeping mission established by the United Nations Security Council in December 1994 and extended on several occasions until its mandate expired in May 2000. Its purpose was to monitor peace agreements during and after the Tajikistan...
was deployed. Most fighting in the early part of the war occurred in the southern part of the country, but by 1996 the rebels were combating Russian troops in the capital city of Dushanbe
Dushanbe
-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...
. Islamic radicals from northern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
also began to fight Russian troops in the region. A UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-sponsored armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
finally ended the war in 1997. This was in part fostered by the Inter-Tajik Dialogue
Inter-Tajik Dialogue
The Inter-Tajik Dialogue was an effort of Track II diplomacy which brought together factions of the Tajik Civil War. The Inter-Tajik Dialogue developed out of former diplomat Hal Saunders' work with the Dartmouth Conference Regional Conflicts Task Force...
, a Track II diplomacy
Track II diplomacy
Track II diplomacy is a specific kind of informal diplomacy, in which non-officials engage in dialogue, with the aim of conflict resolution, or confidence-building...
initiative in which the main players were brought together by international actors, namely the United States and Russia. The peace agreement completely eliminated Leninabad region (Khujand) from power. Presidential elections were held on November 6, 1999.
The UTO warned in letters to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
and Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov on 23 June 1997 that it would not sign the proposed peace agreement on June 27 if prisoner exchanges and the allocation of jobs in the coalition government were not outlined in the agreement. Akbar Turajonzoda
Akbar Turajonzoda
Akbar Turajonzoda is a Senator in the National Assembly of Tajikistan. He served as the Qazi Qalon, the highest Muslim authority in Tajikistan, from 1988 to 1991. He served as the second-in-command of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition from 1993 until his...
, second-in-command of the UTO, repeated this warning on 26 June, but said both sides were negotiating. President Rahmonov, UTO leader Sayid Abdulloh Nuri
Sayid Abdulloh Nuri
Sayid Abdulloh Nuri , also transliterated as Abdullah Nuri, led the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan from 1993 until he died of cancer in late 2006. During the Tajik Civil War of 1992 to 1997 he led the United Tajik Opposition...
, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
met in the Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
on 26 June to finish negotiating the peace agreement. The Tajik government had previously pushed for settling these issues after the two sides signed the agreement, with the posts in the coalition government decided by a joint commission for national reconciliation and prisoner exchanges by a future set of negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov
Yevgeny Primakov
Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov is a Russian politician and diplomat. During his long career, he served as the Russian Foreign Minister, Prime Minister of Russia, Speaker of the Soviet of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and chief of intelligence service...
met with the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to discuss the proposed peace accord.
By the end of the war Tajikistan was in a state of complete devastation. The estimated dead numbered from 50,000 to as many as 100,000. Around 1.2 million people were refugees inside and outside of the country. Tajikistan's physical infrastructure, government services, and economy were in disarray and much of the population was surviving on subsistence handouts from international aid organizations. The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
established a Mission of Observers in December 1994, maintaining peace negotiations until the warring sides signed a comprehensive peace agreement in 1997.
Journalists were particularly targeted for assassination and dozens of Tajik journalists died. Many more fled the country, leading to a brain drain
Brain drain
Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...
. Notable individuals killed include journalist and politician Otakhon Latifi
Otakhon Latifi
Otakhon Latifi was a noted journalist and politician from Tajikistan.He was born in the town of Pendjikent. Under the Soviet Union, he was both Pravda and Izvestiyas correspondent in Tajikistan at various times...
, journalist and Jewish leader Meirkhaim Gavrielov
Meirkhaim Gavrielov
Meirkhaim Gavrielov was a journalist murdered in Tajikistan.- Life :Meirkhaim Gavrielov was a prominent member of Tajikistani media for fifty years. Gavrielov was born in 1927 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He studied philology at Samarkand State Pedagogical Institute...
, politician Safarali Kenjayev
Safarali Kenjayev
Safarali Kenjayev served as the Speaker of the Supreme Soviet in Tajikistan 1991–1992, Chairman of the Tajik Parliament's committee on human rights and legislation, and as head of Tajikistan's Socialist Party which he founded....
, and four members of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan
United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan
The United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan was a peacekeeping mission established by the United Nations Security Council in December 1994 and extended on several occasions until its mandate expired in May 2000. Its purpose was to monitor peace agreements during and after the Tajikistan...
: Yutaka Akino, a noted Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese scholar of Central Asian history, Major Ryszard Szewczyk from Poland; Major Adolfo Scharpegge from Uruguay; and Jourajon Mahramov from Tajikistan; and documentary filmmaker Arcady Ruderman
Arcady Ruderman
Arcady Abramovich Ruderman was a Belarusian documentary filmmaker who was killed during the Civil war in Tajikistan in 1992.-Biography:Arcady Ruderman was born in 1955 in Minsk, capital of the Byelorussian SSR....
.
Further reading
- Monica Whitlock. Land Beyond the River: The Untold Story of Central Asia, St. Martin's Press, 2003, ISBN 031227727X
- Shahram Akbarzadeh. Why did nationalism fail in Tajikistan?, Europe-Asia StudiesEurope-Asia StudiesEurope-Asia Studies is an academic peer-reviewed journal published 10 times a year by Routledge on behalf of the Institute of Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, and continuing the journal Soviet Studies , which was renamed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union...
, 1996. - Mohammad-Reza Djalili, Frédéric Grare, and Shirin Akiner. Tajikistan: The Trials of Independence, St. Martin's Press, Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1997.
- Roy, Olivier. The New Central Asia, the Creation of Nations. London: I. B. Tauris, 2000.
- Rashid, Ahmed. "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia." London: Yale University Press, 2002