COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONSIDERS REPORT OF TAJIKISTAN
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights today concluded its consideration of the combined second and third periodic report of Tajikistan on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Introducing the report, Rustam Shohmurod, Minister of Justice of Tajikistan, said that the main development priorities were developing the economy of the country and ensuring that everyone realized their potential. Despite the global economic and financial crisis, the economy was growing fast at over 6 per cent, poverty rates were reduced from 46 per cent in 2007 to the current 32 per cent and $ 27.3 billion had been invested in improving living conditions and access to basic services. Every year, 670,000 seasonal workers migrated abroad and the protection of the rights of migrants, in particular labour migrants, was a priority. Infant and maternal mortality rates had been significantly reduced, and in the period 2000-2014 mortality rates of infants and children under the age of five had dropped two-fold.
Among concerns raised by Experts during the interactive discussion were the absence of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law that took on board in one document all grounds of discrimination, difficult access to remedies for violations of economic, social and cultural rights of vulnerable and disadvantaged persons largely because of lack of access to legal aid, and disproportionate control exercised over associations and non-governmental organizations. Experts were also concerned that, despite all steps taken to tackle corruption, Tajikistan occupied 152nd rank among 174 countries listed in the 2014 Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International.
The Committee took note of the adoption of The Commissioner for Human Rights Act in March 2008 and asked about its independence, resources and place within State structure, and about the adoption of a comprehensive national human rights action plan. A number of questions were asked on the situation of persons with disabilities, including the status of the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability in the law, and measures to ensure access to persons with disabilities to employment and access of children with disabilities to mainstream education.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Shohmurod said that Tajikistan would pay more attention to the provisions of the Covenant in the development of future programmes and measures. Country Rapporteur Zdzislaw Kedzia thanked the delegation and the representatives of civil society from Tajikistan and said that cooperation with civil society was a very important factor in the advancement of economic, social and cultural rights. Mr. Sadi, Committee Chairperson repeated his appreciation for the quality of the answers given by the delegation and said that the Committee had benefitted a great deal from the input by Tajikistan.
The delegation of Tajikistan consisted of the representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment of Population, Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population, Ministry of Education and Science, Human Rights Ombudsman of Tajikistan, Agency for Statistics, Department of the Executive Office of the President, and the Permanent Mission of Tajikistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will release its formal concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Tajikistan at the end of its two-week session on 6 March 2015.
The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. on 25 February when it will consider the initial report of The Gambia (E/C.12/GMB/1) in the absence of the State Party.
Report
The combined second and third periodic report of Tajikistan can be read here: (E/C.12/TJK/2-3).
Presentation of the Report
RUSTAM SHOHMUROD, Minister of Justice of Tajikistan, said that Tajikistan placed great importance on cooperation with the Committee and also with civil society, with whom it had consulted on the report submitted to the Committee. The State guaranteed economic freedom, legal protection of property, the right to housing, health, education and social protection. Main development priorities were developing the economy of the country and ensuring that everyone realized their potential. Despite the global economic and financial crisis, the economy was growing fast at over 6 per cent per annum and in 2014 the level of economic development was maintained, thus allowing Tajikistan to pursue its development policies. Poverty was decreasing and was now at 32 per cent; the reduction was achieved thanks to high economic growth, remittances from abroad and investment in socio-economic development. There were over 100 State and regional development programmes which aimed to improve living conditions and access of citizens to basic services, into which $ 27.3 billion had been invested. The Presidential National Development Council had been set up to implement the national development policy, and was chaired by the President. Over the past five years, salaries of Government employees, including scientists, teachers and artists, had been increased three times, and this year minimum wage would be increased by 60 per cent.
In order to implement its international commitments, Tajikistan was enacting legislation and building programmes in order to improve access of the population to basic services and reduce poverty. Tajikistan was a country of labour migration abroad, with 670,000 seasonal workers going abroad, principally in Russia which was the main country of destination. The protection of the rights of migrants was a priority for the Government, which had developed the national migration policy and the labour migration strategy. Family was the fundament of the society and enjoyed the protection of the State. The age of marriage had been raised to 18 years of age and early marriages carried criminal responsibility. The Constitution provided for the rights of all to protection and free of charge medical assistance. In 2010 a programme had been adopted to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic and today there were 240 testing places and 350 professionals trained in voluntary counselling and testing. The fight against tuberculosis was a priority and the DOTS (directly observed treatment, short-course) programme had been implemented since 2007, free diagnostic materials had been provided and conditions and care of prisoners with tuberculosis had also been improved. Infant and maternal mortality rates had been significantly reduced, and in the period 2000-2014 the mortality rates of infants and children under the age of five had dropped two-fold.
Questions from Country Rapporteur and Committee Experts
ZDZISLAW KEDZIA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, welcomed the delegation and expressed appreciation for the extensive information provided in the report and asked the delegation to explain the process and mechanism of preparing reports to the treaty bodies. Tajikistan had said that major progress had been achieved in the implementation of the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the Country Rapporteur asked for an update on the adoption of a comprehensive national human rights action plan. Further, concerning the recommendation to establish an independent national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles, the Committee took note of the adoption of The Commissioner for Human Rights Act in March 2008 and asked about its independence, resources, and its place within State structure. Despite all steps taken to tackle corruption, Tajikistan occupied 152nd rank among 174 countries listed in the 2014 Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International; could the delegation explain why this remained a problem? The Country Rapporteur also requested additional information to explain the implementation of the provisions of the Covenant, including training of judges and whether steps were being taken towards ratification of the Optional Protocol.
Taking up the law on the rights of persons with disabilities, a Committee Expert asked whether it clearly prohibited discrimination and whether it required reasonable accommodation for the integration of persons with disabilities. How was physical access to public buildings and access to employment for persons with disabilities ensured? The Law on Equal Opportunities was a welcome piece of legislation, but it did not provide adequate protection of women from indirect discrimination and did not ensure their equal representation in employment, largely due to pervasive stereotypes.
The delegation was asked about the absence of a comprehensive anti-discrimination act that took on board in one document all grounds of discrimination, including legal and practical aspects of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, and the absence of a definition of discrimination. Tajikistan was a very diverse country, with over 100 nationalities, which posed specific challenges and the delegation was asked about measures to ensure the economic, social and cultural rights of specific groups and to comment on the language policy. What measures were undertaken to tackle gender-based stereotypes?
A Committee Expert asked whether there had been problems in invoking the Covenant in courts and if the delegation knew of specific cases and judgements invoking the Covenant?
Tajikistan had a 100 kilometres border with Afghanistan and, given the situation there, what was the prognosis concerning migrants from this country? Did Tajikistan seek additional cooperation with international organizations on the issue of refugees and asylum seekers? Associations and non-governmental organizations were subject to disproportionate control and found it very difficult to access foreign funding which they needed to fund their activities.
The Country Rapporteur noted that vulnerable and disadvantaged people had major problems in accessing remedy for violation of their economic, social and cultural rights, particularly because of very difficult access to legal aid, and another Expert asked about plans to improve the availability of legal aid in the country. Which jobs were prohibited to women and was retirement age for men and women different?
Another Committee Expert asked about the changing face of migration and its feminization, accommodation of returning migrants from Russia, and the planned unified system of pensions which would most likely leave women without access to decent pensions.
The delegation was asked to clarify the question of the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, decrease in remittances because of the high rate of return of migrants, the definition of the informal economy and what proportion of the economy was considered informal, and the role of the Labour Inspectorate in upholding labour rights.
Response by the Delegation
Efforts were being made to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and steps were being made to understand how the Convention could be implemented. It was expected that the ratification would happen soon. There was no specific anti-discrimination law, but discrimination was dealt with in the Constitution. Tajikistan was developing a national plan to address emergency and humanitarian situations in connection with the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. The President had issued an instruction to the Ministry of Justice to develop a conceptual framework for legal aid, which hopefully would be adopted this year and with the Law on Free Legal Aid to be adopted next year. The Law on Associations needed to be amended to take into account foreign funding; this draft amendment was being discussed with civil society organizations, donors and international organizations.
National reports were drafted in collaboration with interested Ministries and agencies, and drafts were presented to non-governmental organizations for consultations, and were discussed in the Inter-agency Commission composed of various representatives of Government. Action plans for the implementation of recommendations received by human rights treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review mechanism were developed. On the fight against corruption, a delegate said that between 2009 and 2014, 5,500 cases of alleged corruption had been examined, of which criminal charges had been charged in 2,200 cases. The National Security Council had met to discuss the issue of corruption in which it had adopted a list of measures against those found guilty of corruption.
The National Strategy to Empower Women 2011-2020 had been adopted, while the Statistical Agency published every year the dynamic gender indicators. There were differences in employment, with women being mainly in services and agricultural sectors and in less paid jobs. Since 2007, Presidential quotas were in place to encourage the participation of girls from rural areas in education, and the gender parity index for primary education stood at 0.93 in 2014. The policy of the State was directed towards encouraging and empowering women to make them more active in the society so that gender stereotypes could be overcome.
Concerning persons with disabilities, a delegate said that the Constitution and legislation provided for the prohibition of discrimination against persons with disabilities, who were entitled to work a shorter working week without reduction in pay, while quotas had been introduced on the employment of persons with disabilities. Over 500 children with disabilities went on to study at higher education institutions. Labour migration in Tajikistan was seasonal in nature and migrants regularly returned home at the end of a season. There were an increasing number of women labour migrants, and the response of the State was to create more jobs for women at home. The draft agreement on pensions for migrants had been developed and agreed by the Tajik side and submitted to the Russian side for consideration.
Tajikistan had a national human rights education programme up to 2020, and the national action plan to implement recommendations by treaty bodies and special procedures. The new Human Rights Strategy beyond 2015 was currently being developed. Amendments to the law were being prepared to strengthen the role of the Ombudsman and the President had also proposed the establishment of a Children’s Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman received complaints of rights violations, including violations of economic, social and cultural rights, and the Ombudsman saw to it that remedies were provided. There was one centrally funded Office and several regional Offices, funded by both the central budget and international donors. In 2010, the Office of the Ombudsmen had received donations of about $ 500,000, and today they amounted to about $ 1 million.
Questions from Experts
In a second round of questions and comments, Experts asked about the National Development Strategy and whether there was a general plan to reduce poverty in the country; action taken to deal with the extensive housing crisis in the country, the lack of a State policy on housing especially for disadvantages groups, and support provided to forcibly evicted persons; a plan to introduce universal health or medical insurance system, the decrease in the number of women using contraceptives, use of abortion as a birth control method and the progress in addressing causes of maternal and infant mortality rates; measures to deinstitutionalize children with mental or physical disabilities and enable them to join mainstream education; and drug addiction and how it affected life in Tajikistan and the measures to tackle this threat.
The next speaker took up the issue of violence against women and noted the high number of dismissal of complaints and asked about criminal sanctions meted out; what measures were in the legislation to deal with domestic violence.
Tajikistan hosted a variety of people and reaped benefits from a variety of cultures. People had the right to enjoy their culture and their cultural identity and a Committee Expert asked about measures to protect, respect and promote cultural diversity and rights in the country.
Basic health provision was deficient in Tajikistan and this could be because resources were diverted away from the most needy and vulnerable from the health point of view. HIV infections were on the increase, which could be connected to increased drug use. Child labour was an issue of concern in Tajikistan and there were reports of 100,000 working children, of which 10 per cent never attended school. What were the food security situation and malnutrition rates in the country?
On access and the right to education, the delegation was asked about the plans to provide pre-school education to children in the country, considering that 90 per cent of the children did not have access to pre-school education, particularly in the rural areas; to comment on the significant gender-based disparity in access to education and what was being done to ensure that all teenage girls had same access to education as teenage boys; how equality in education was ensured for different nationality and the languages for human rights education programmes; and the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the education sector, particularly with regard to higher education. The rates of completion of primary education were low, particularly among the poor and girls, while the revival of the traditional view of roles of women was seen as a major factor preventing access of girls to education.
Response by the Delegation
Financing of the health care was being increased every year and this was a stable trend which reflected the priority accorded to the health sector. Cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was on a high level, while there were legislative provisions in line with the Refugee Convention and the relevant protocols. Tajikistan was working with civil organizations to develop a plan of action to address the humanitarian situation which might arise following the withdrawal of Coalition Forces from Afghanistan. A draft constitutional law on citizenship was being examined, which incorporated the provisions of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
The retirement age was 62 years for men and 58 for women. The Government planned to increase the minimum wage this year, which would be followed by a 20 per cent increase in the minimum pension. Tajikistan was conducting a reform of the pension system and up till 2017 pensions would be paid on the basis of the law on pensions and the law on insurance and state pensions. The situation in the country in terms of access to energy needed to be improved, particularly in the access to electricity in rural areas.
The National Strategy for Development had been adopted in 2007, which focused on the identified priorities of reforming state governance, developing the private sector and attracting investment, and developing human potential. A whole series of measures had been adopted to improve the wellbeing of the population. Poverty rates had been decreased thanks to economic growth and greater socio-economic investment made by the Government. The poverty rates in 2014 were 32 per cent and were greater in rural areas.
WALEED SADI, Committee Chairperson, asked to what extent the national development programmes were inspired by the Covenant.
The delegation said the National Development Strategy up to 2015 had been adopted in 2007 and set out the priorities of good governance, accountability, countering corruption and capacity building, with the overarching aim of reducing poverty. In order to continue with poverty reduction efforts, a new phase of the national development strategy to 2020 was being drafted. Two stages of the current Strategy had been implemented, resulting in the reduction of poverty from 46 per cent to 32 per cent, while current efforts were focused on improving standards of living in Tajikistan. Efforts were being made to improve governance and accountability, and the use of e-governance and one-stop-shop-system for payments. Particular attention was given to the participation of civil society in the issues of governance and decision-making.
A working group had been established to develop a draft Housing Code which would also provide the definition of social housing. A housing conceptual framework was in place which dealt with housing needs for the next 10 years. The housing standard in the country required at least 12 square meters to be available to each person.
Tajikistan was on a geographical crossroads and had a very long border with Afghanistan, making the problem of drug trafficking very challenging. Several national programmes to counter drug trafficking had already been implemented, together with a preventive and assistance programme to drug users. Because drug trafficking was an international problem which could only be countered with significant degree of cooperation, Tajikistan had signed a significant number of inter-governmental agreements on the issue. Over the past five years, drug crimes had represented five per cent of all crimes in the country. Drug users had been registered and the national strategy to deal with drug trafficking 2014-2020 had been developed, which also sought to understand the reasons behind the increase in drug use in the country. Increasing numbers of drug users were seeking medical help with their addiction, while 41 confidential centres had been established to assist injecting drug users.
The national survey on child labour had been conducted in 2012-2013, which encompassed children of school age, with the aim to identify most vulnerable children, causes and conditions of child labour. The objective was to collect information required for the development of programmes to address the issue. About 45 per cent of children aged 15 to 17 years worked, most of whom were engaged in agriculture with their families, or at home, while eight per cent of working children worked in hazardous conditions. Average school attendance among the children was not lower for children who worked, which meant that compulsory education was complied with; most children went to work after completing the compulsory level of education.
The Ministry of Education had in place provisions which governed inclusive education for children with disabilities and the organization of the schooling at home. For the last three years, the relevant ministries had been working on preventing children with disabilities from entering institutions, to ensure that they enjoyed their right to education, which was a high Government priority. The National Concept Paper on Inclusive Education 2011-2014 had been adopted, and measures had been put in place to open general schools to children with disabilities; today, 5,600 children with disabilities studied in mainstream schools. The provisions on the organizations of home schooling had been adopted as well and today more than 800 children with disabilities were home schooled. All new school buildings ensured physical access for children with disabilities.
A Law on Preschool Education and preschool education standards had been adopted; currently some 12 per cent of the children were covered by pre-school programmes. Children development centres were being established in all districts in the country, while alternative models of early education were being developed, particularly in rural and remote areas. A National Programme on Eradicating Worst Forms of Child Labour to 2020 aimed to collect the relevant information and statistics. In 2014, a programme for development of private pre-school establishments had been adopted.
On discrimination, the delegation said that the Criminal Code provided for criminal responsibility for direct or indirect discrimination on grounds including nationality, ethnicity, origin, language, religion and others.
Family planning was part of medical assistance services; there were a large number of bureaus across the country where couples could receive information about family planning and about abortion. Information on contraception and contraceptives was available free of charge. The use of modern contraceptive methods had greatly increased over the past 20 years and 72 per cent of people used various methods of contraception; 10 per cent of men used condoms. The 2008 law on medical insurance had been amended in 2010 to allow for the introduction of compulsory medical insurance in 2014. A compulsory medical insurance fund was being set up and the plan was to fund it via national health insurance tax to be levied on salaries. The country would move to the compulsory health insurance system in 2015.
Nutrition in Tajikistan largely depended on economic issues and the provision of health care. Around 26 per cent of children under the age of five were malnourished and 10 per cent experienced growth problems. The Strategy on Nutrition and Physical Activities of Children 2015-2020 had been adopted, and efforts were being made to tackle the problems of food security and the lack of essential vitamins and minerals.
More than half the population was employed in the informal economy which had contributed 14 per cent of the national gross domestic product in 2013.
Questions from Experts
In a further round of questions and comments, Experts said that the benefits of the booming construction sector should be spread more evenly within the society, and called upon Tajikistan to review the 1947 provisions prohibiting women from certain jobs because they reflected traditional gender stereotypes. Health care spending had not increased since 2009 when 1.4 per cent of the gross domestic product had been invested in health care provisions.
A Committee Expert asked the delegation about protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, while another speaker reiterated the call to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination framework law and prohibit discrimination on all grounds.
The delegation was invited to comment on the draft law on associations which would limit their access to foreign funding, the pension system and how women who did not work would be included, the coverage of the social insurance system, recognition of domestic violence as a criminal offence, early marriage and polygamy.
Response from the Delegation
The draft law on associations was still being developed and it sought to develop a system of notification of financial resources from foreign sources, and not to authorise access to sources of funding. The Government was revising its approach to legal aid to bring it in line with international standards. In that sense, a draft law had been developed which included free legal assistance; unfortunately the financing was not attached to the draft law. At the moment, various approaches to the provision of free legal aid were being studied in partnership with United Nations and international organizations.
The Law on State Social Insurance and other regulatory acts defined the payment of benefits to insured persons. The system included benefits for temporary incapacity to work, pregnancy and maternity, unemployment, family and burial.
Investment in health care had increased from 1.8 per cent of the gross domestic product in 2009 to 2 per cent in 2014, representing just over seven per cent of the national budget. The delegation agreed that this was not enough but stressed that more than 20 per cent of the State budget went into social insurance.
In answer to a question on early marriage and polygamy, the delegation said that the marriageable age of girls had been increased from 16 to 18, while a judge could allow 17-year old girls to marry. Marrying off girls before the age of marriage was a criminal offence. Polygamy was prohibited.
Labour migration was a matter of great concern. A branch of the Labour Ministry existed in Russia which sought to uphold labour rights of migrants temporarily working in this country. The number of labour migrants who were prohibited from working in Russia for a period time had increased; as a response to this and the need of returning migrants, the Government was creating jobs in the country. Around 106,000 women had migrated in 2014. A special pre-migration centre had been set up to provide people with advice before leaving the country as labour migrants. A State employment programme was in place which trained and re-trained workers and provided certification of skills, in order to support the returning migrants. It was important to say that half of all labour and employment measures undertaken by the State were focused on women, including returning migrants.
Legislation did not offer an exhaustive list of all grounds of discrimination but did give enough room to address the courts on the issue of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As of now, no such cases had been lodged with the courts in Tajikistan.
Concluding Remarks
RUSTAM SHOHMUROD, Minister of Justice of Tajikistan, thanked the Committee Experts for their comments which he said would be integrated in the future work of Tajikistan. Tajikistan would pay more attention to the provisions of the Covenant in the development of programmes and measures.
ZDZISLAW KEDZIA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, thanked Tajikistan for the constructive participation in the dialogue and frank responses to questions raised by the Committee Members. He also thanked representatives of civil society from Tajikistan who travelled to Geneva and provided information about economic, social and cultural rights in Tajikistan. Cooperation with civil society was a very important factor in the advancement of economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee emerged from the dialogue with improved knowledge about laws and policies in the country and hoped that Tajikistan had better understanding of issues and concerns raised by the Experts.
WALEED SADI, Committee Chairperson, repeated his appreciation for the quality of the answers and said that the Committee had benefitted a great deal from the input by Tajikistan. The Committee’s concluding observations would be adopted at the end of the session on 6 March and made public on 9 March.
For use of the information media; not an official record
ESC15/004E