Manuchehr Kholiknazarov
Manuchehr Kholiknazarov was one of two outstanding human rights defenders to receive the Martin Ennals Award 2024 on 21 November 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Martin Ennals Award.
Manuchehr Kholiknazarov is a human rights defender and lawyer who leads the Pamir Lawyers Association. He is a member of the Civil Society Coalition against Torture and Impunity in Tajikistan, and a member of the Commission 44, created to document police brutality in GBAO.
Human rights defenders in Tajikistan work in conditions of long-term unchanged political power and absence of political pluralism. In 2015 the Islamic party of Tajikistan was banned as a terrorist organisation and 20 of its members were arrested. The same year three human rights lawyers who tried to provide legal assistance to the arrested members of the party were arrested on the trumped-up charges of fraud, that had been used previously on many occasions to silence the lawyers and human rights defenders working on sensitive cases.
