Capital punishment in Tajikistan

Capital punishment is permitted in Tajikistan by Article 18 of the 1999 Constitution of Tajikistan, which provides:^[1]

Every person has the right to life. No person may be deprived of life except by the verdict of a court for a very serious crime.

The last known execution took place in 2004.^[2] That same year, President Emomali Rahmon announced a moratorium on capital punishment.^[2]

Tajikistan is not signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which aims to abolish the death penalty.^[3]

Public foundation "Notabene" conducted a survey in 2010 on public opinion on the death penalty in Tajikistan. More than half of the respondents among the general population — precisely, 61.18% — are against death penalty in Tajikistan. 93% of the polled employees of courts and judges were also in favor of abolishing capital punishment, while 88% of the polled employees of investigative bodies and prosecutor's office supported retaining the death penalty. CABAR further provides the support among the latter group by citing the Prosecutor General Yusuf Rahmon [ru; tg] and the Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov, who both support abolishing the moratorium, with latter emphasizing that "there are crimes that cannot be forgiven".^[2]