A/HRC/55/51/Add.2 Annex Report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, on his visit to Tajikistan I. Introduction 1. From 9 to 20 October 2023, at the invitation of the Government of Tajikistan, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, conducted a country visit to evaluate the overall situation of minorities in the country by considering the legislation, policies and practices for the implementation of the country’s international human rights obligations affecting minorities. 2. The Special Rapporteur met with some 100 individuals at the national, regional and municipal levels, including representatives of civil society organizations, minority representatives from ethnic, religious, linguistic and sign language-using communities and experts from different parts of the country, both online and in person. Due to the fear of reprisals, almost no one belonging to minority communities or working for human rights or minority rights organizations was willing to meet with him in-person in Tajikistan but, instead, preferred to meet online. 3. The mission also included onsite visits to the Vose’ District and the Kŭhistoni Badakhshon Autonomous Province, better known in English as the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast. He also met with high-level officials of several departments and other governmental entities, including at the national level, in Dushanbe, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Committee on Religion, Regulation of Traditions, Celebrations and Ceremonies under the Government of Tajikistan (Religious Committee), the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Legislation and Human Rights, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs, Public Associations and Information, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Supreme Court, the Human Rights Guarantees Department of the Executive Office of the President of Tajikistan, the Office of the Ombudsperson, the Statistics Agency under the President of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Education, in addition to the Resident Coordinator and other members of the United Nations country team and members of the diplomatic community based in Dushanbe. In the Kŭhistoni Badakhshon Autonomous Province, the Special Rapporteur met with the Chair of the Regional Department of the State Committee for National Security, the Deputy Chair of the Regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Chair of the Regional Department of the Ministry of Justice, the Regional Governor and the Assistant of the Regional Governor. 4. The Special Rapporteur also received written submissions, both in advance and during his visit, from civil society organizations, in particular organizations representing religious and ethnic communities. He is deeply grateful to all of those who organized community consultations with him. 5. The Special Rapporteur expresses his gratitude to everyone with whom he met for their readiness to engage in an open dialogue to better understand and assess the human rights situation of minorities in Tajikistan. He sincerely thanks the Government of Tajikistan for the support and the invaluable cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. II. Objectives of the visit 6. The objectives of the visit were to identify, in a spirit of cooperation and constructive dialogue, good practices and to address existing gaps and deficiencies in the promotion and protection of the human rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minority groups in Tajikistan, in conformity with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. 2 GE.24-00946