TAJIKISTAN ARRESTS MUSLIM MISSIONARIES: ARE THEY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000653

SIPDIS

STATE DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/29/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF ASEC TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN ARRESTS MUSLIM MISSIONARIES: ARE THEY
EXTREMISTS?

REF: 2009 DUSHANBE 95

CLASSIFIED BY: NECIA QUAST, CHARGE D'AFFAIRS, EXE, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: In April and May 2009, Tajik law enforcement
officials arrested members of the Jamoat-i-Tabligh, a Sunni
missionary group. Most of those arrested have been released,
but an unknown number remain in custody, and it is unclear when
or if criminal proceedings will be initiated against them. The
manner in which government officials have approached the Tabligh
group has led to cynical speculation that the government is
attempting to divert attention from unpopular policies. It is
more likely, however, that this is an example of a poorly
executed law enforcement strategy. End Summary.



MASS ARRESTS




2. (U) Media outlets have reported that in April and May 2009,
Tajik law enforcement officials in Dushanbe and Khatlon Province
arrested up to 200 members of the Jamoat-i-Tabligh, a Sunni
missionary group, and confiscated books and other literature
calling for an Islamic state. Jamoat-i-Tabligh has been
outlawed in other Central Asian countries, but until recently,
the group had little or no profile in Tajikistan. An Interior
Ministry spokesman, Mahmadali Asadulloev, told reporters that
"like Hizb-ut-Tahrir, they have one main aim -- taking over the
government and creating an Islamic caliphate." Officials have
claimed that the organization was placed on a list of extremist
groups in 2006, justifying the arrests.




3. (SBU) The arrests appear to have taken place over a period of
weeks, and Muhammedjon Khayrulloev, from the General
Prosecutor's Office, told reporters that those arrested would be
criminally charged with "engaging in illegal religious
activity." However, Tajik officials have been very vague about
the numbers of people arrested, the circumstances surrounding
the arrests, and when criminal proceedings would be instituted.
Most appear to have been released soon after their arrests;
government officials have acknowledged that four remain in
detention. Tabligh members have claimed that the number still
in detention is much higher (at least ten).



VIEWS FROM THE INSIDE




4. (C) Mullo Abdughani, a Tabligh member, told EmbOff that in
April, security personnel arrested about a hundred members of
the organization who had gathered at the Umari Foruq mosque in
Dushanbe. Security personnel interviewed each Tabligh member
individually, asking them from where they received funding, and
telling them they needed to shave their beards. Abdughani
estimated that there were 3,000 Tabligh adherents in Tajikistan,
and that those who were arrested were primarily from Kulyob.




5. (C) An Embassy contact who works for the government and who
knows a State Committee for National Security officer involved
in the April arrests of 124 Tabligh members in Khatlon told us
committee officials had infiltrated the group and posed as
missionaries for about a year. In February 2009, two Chechens
joined the Tabligh group and told other members that they had
come to Tajikistan to fight against the government.



THE FLAVOR OF THE MONTH




6. (U) Local and international journalists have viewed the
government's claims skeptically. Forum 18, a news service based
in Norway, wrote that an official from the Ministry of Culture's
Department of Religious Affairs "could not say what exactly was
wrong in the actions of Jamaat Tabligh followers." Radio
Liberty commented on May 14 that Tajiks have "become accustomed

DUSHANBE 00000653 002 OF 002


to authorities periodically singling out outlawed groups and
launching a highly publicized campaign against it." On May 15,
a court in Khujand convicted seven men of being members of
Hizb-ut-Tahrir and inciting religious hatred. The government
banned the Salafis earlier this year, claiming they threatened
national unity and stability (reftel). No Salafi has been
arrested, however.




7. (C) Comment: The government frequently cracks down on
religious groups, Muslim or otherwise, particularly those
engaged in missionary activity or those perceived to be a
foreign influence. It is likely that the government moved
against Tabligh because embedded security agents identified
Chechens affiliated with the group. The security officials
probably suspected the Chechens were using the group as a cover,
or as a means to incite trouble, and Tajik officials cast a wide
net in arresting and questioning known Tabligh members.
Government secrecy surrounding the arrests, however, has led
many to speculate that officials are simply drumming up ways to
focus attention away from a deteriorating economic situation, or
to justify a restrictive religious policy. While the government
may have seen a legitimate security threat with the Tabligh
group, its tactics undermined its credibility. End comment.
QUAST