On 10-13 May 2022 a delegation of the Council of Europe visited Tajikistan to promote co-operation in raising awareness on European human rights standards among legal professionals. In a series of meetings with the authorities, team members of the “HELP in Central Asia” Action discussed human rights training and expertise-sharing activities to be organised in Tajikistan in 2022.
The delegation met the Supreme Court and its Centre of in-service training for judges; the General Prosecutor Office and the Institute of in-service training for prosecutors; the Ombudsman’s office; the Parliament, as well as leading human rights NGOs, including the Coalition against Torture, and international organisations present in Dushanbe. All interlocutors showed a genuine interest in offering HELP online courses for different target groups, after their adaptation to Tajikistan’s context and translation into Tajik language.
The launch of co-operation was marked with two activities: a public lecture on the law of the European Convention on Human Rights for 45 students of the law faculty of Tajikistan National University and a 1-day seminar for 27 Tajikistan’s lawyers on the right to a fair trial in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The Chairman of the Union of lawyers, Mr Saidbek Nuritdinov underlined the relevance of the seminar and the EU/CoE Rule of Law Programme in Central Asia in general, emphasising importance of engaging lawyers from the regions of Tajikistan and organising more thematic seminars and events.
The activities were organised in the framework of the action "HELP in Central Asia" within the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023 which is a joint initiative, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. “HELP in Central Asia” aims at improving knowledge and skills of justice professionals in the area of human rights and ensuring the application of human rights principles in their daily work in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
