A/HRC/45/13/Add.1 8. The peace agreement and the formation of the coalition Government did not, however, eliminate tensions or sporadic conflicts, which culminated in 2015 in the Supreme Court declaring the Islamic Renaissance Party an extremist and a terrorist organization and it being banned. At the same time, Emomali Rahmon, who has been in the position of State President since 1994, consolidated his power. In 2015, he was granted the tile of “Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation”, which gives him, inter alia, the right to run for office an unlimited number of times and the authority to overrule the executive, and exempts him from any possible prosecution for life. It is widely reported that centralization and personification of State power contributed to the suppression of any dissent elements and to serious restrictions on the enjoyment of fundamental human rights and civil liberties, including freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, religion and belief, freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly, the right to participate in public affairs, the right to respect for private life, the right to personal security and integrity, the right to life and the prohibition of torture and the right to a fair trial, mostly in the name of fighting extremism and terrorism. Reportedly, Tajikistan suffers from nepotism and widespread corruption (CCPR/C/TJK/CO/3, paras. 11–12). 9. Following the banning of the Islamic Renaissance Party, its leaders and their lawyers were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Some 200 members have been arrested. Others are under house arrest with their relatives, or have fled abroad where, in some cases, they have been subject to extradition requests by the Tajik authorities and to transnational renditions (see sect. V. C below). Families of those abroad face harassment. The policy of criminal prosecution and imprisonment extends to other government critics, including social activists, journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that the detention of 12 Islamic Renaissance Party members is arbitrary and requested that they be immediately released (see A/HRC/WGAD/2018/2 and A/HRC/WGAD/2019/66). That Working Group came to the same conclusion regarding the detention of Buzurgmehr Yorov, a human rights lawyer who took on representation of several Islamic Renaissance Party leaders and was detained shortly afterwards. He was charged with fraud, forgery, arousing hostility and extremism and later with contempt of court, insulting public officials and publicly insulting the President. He received a long prison sentence following trials carried out in disregard for fair trial guarantees. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention arbitrary on several grounds and recommended his release (see A/HRC/WGAD/2019/17). That case illustrates an unacceptable practice of intimidating and, in extreme cases, criminally prosecuting lawyers who defend individuals charged with the crimes of terrorism or extremism. In addition, there is reportedly at least one example of a government critic who was found dead after having disappeared for several weeks. 10. Deaths in custody continue to be reported in Tajikistan. They include two recent incidents attributed to prison riots during which Islamic Renaissance Party members, as well as other inmates, were killed. The first occurred in Khujand in November 2018, where reportedly more than 20 prisoners were killed. A criminal investigation was conducted, but the trial was closed to the public. The second riot occurred in May 2019 in the maximum security Kirpichniy Prison in Vahdat, which the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances was able to visit. The Working Group was informed by the authorities that, after rioting prisoners killed three guards and three other prisoners, law enforcement officers responded with force, killing 27 inmates. The authorities have reported that both riots were instigated by members of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Information available to date suggests that serious violations were committed in the operation, including excessive use of force by the prison authorities. The Working Group also notes significant contradictions in information provided by high-ranking officials on how the operation was conducted. The Working Group was particularly disturbed by comments from a senior official that the authorities did not want “wounded inmates” and that the individuals “got what they deserved”. The Working Group also obtained information indicating that vital pieces of evidence were reportedly unavailable. Those elements point to possible intentional extrajudicial killings by the authorities. There is a need for a thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation to be conducted into both incidents, in line with international standards, including the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death. 11. The Working Group is aware that a number of citizens of Tajikistan travelled abroad to fight with Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Several governmental interlocutors 4