Leader of local Uzbeks missing in Tajikistan
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 18 March 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Leader of local Uzbeks missing in Tajikistan, 18 March 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/519a6b1439.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
March 18, 2013
By RFE/RL's Tajik Service
Uzbek community leader Salim Shamsiddinov (file photo)
KHATLON, Tajikistan – A leader of Tajikistan's ethnic Uzbeks has been missing for several days.
Officials with the Interior Affairs Department in Tajikistan's southern region of Khatlon told RFE/RL on March 17 that Salim Shamsiddinov went missing on March 16.
In May last year, Shamsiddinov, 58, a leader of ethnic Uzbeks in the Khatlon region, was severely beaten by unknown attackers.
That attack came after Shamsiddinov suggested in a series of interviews with Tajik media outlets that certain officials within the the Tajik government were pursuing "nationalistic" policies.
He had complained that ethnic Uzbeks in Khatlon have no access to education in their mother tongue.
Uzbeks are Tajikistan's largest ethnic minority, making up more than 15 percent of the country's population of almost 8 million.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
