Progress in Tajikistan

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would like to join others today in warmly welcoming Ambassador Gilbert [Head of Center in Tajikistan] to the Permanent Council, and we would also like to thank him both for his report and for his excellent work in Dushanbe.

Mr. Chairman, we agree that Tajikistan has made significant progress over the past couple of years. We welcome the new mandate of the OSCE Center in Dushanbe, and we hope that the OSCE can assist the Government of Tajikistan in developing its democratic institutions, the rule of law, and a market economy.

We believe that one crucial area where the OSCE could provide assistance is that of Judicial Reform and Training. Effective independent judicial systems are critical for democracy, for respect for human rights, and for economic development.

Elections are also crucial to the development of democracy. We hope that the Government of Tajikistan will work with the OSCE to implement ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] recommendations and to ensure that the next elections meet international standards. In particular, we hope that party registration legislation will be reformed to meet OSCE standards and that more political parties will as a result be registered. Good governance, combating corruption, and transparency are also important issues where the OSCE could focus on programs such as legislative assistance, the training of government officials, judges, police, and customs officers.

We welcome increased economic and environmental programs as well. And we support OSCE work in training border services in Tajikistan, and look forward to the upcoming assessment mission led by the Office of the Senior Police Advisor. We very much hope that this assessment will serve as the basis for a prompt and concrete response to the Tajik proposal for a border service training center. Mr. Chairman, we are also very interested in the Center's proposal concerning demining, and we look forward to concrete proposal on this issue.

Over the past several months Tajikistan has bolstered freedom of the media through the registration of the independent news agency and production house Asia-Plus in Tajikistan, as well as other radio stations. In this respect, we support the work done by the OSCE to assist in the redrafting of media legislation. We hope that this draft, which is currently with the President's Office, will soon be forwarded to the parliament for action.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to echo Ambassador Gilbert's call on the Tajik authorities to reexamine the case of Dilfuza Numonova on humanitarian grounds. I thank you very much.