JUNE 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) -In Tajikistan, where military service is compulsory, a debate is brewing about violence in the armed forces. The outcome of a high-profile trial may impact how President Emomali Rakhmon will react.
The trial revolves around 20-year-old border guard Shakhbol Mirzoyev who was seriously injured after, allegedly, being beaten up by fellow soldiers on March 6.
Tajikistan’s Asia-Plus news service reported that Mr Mirzoyev’s had his leg and neck broken.
The republic’s main opposition party the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan has since called for changes to the law on forced military conscription and the elimination of the practice of oblava which sees unwilling conscripts effectively kidnapped into armed service.
A period of hazing — physical and psychological intimidation that is part of most armies across the former Soviet Union — often follows such kidnappings.
Many young Tajiks flee abroad to dodge conscription.
Malik, a 23-year old Tajik national who graduated from university in Bishkek says he isn’t going home this summer.
“My [Tajik] friends in Kyrgyzstan here have all paid the army off, so they are safe,” he said. “But I am here on a scholarship and my family don’t have money. If they find me, I will have to serve.”
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)