Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tajikistan

Tajik Parliament Passes Amnesty Bill

June 27 is celebrated as the Day of National Unity (file) (RFE/RL)

June 20, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Tajikistan's lawmakers have passed a bill amnestying some participants in the country's civil war in the 1990s, in the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the accord that ended the war.

TEXT SIZE - +

June 20, 2007

Women, juveniles, and elders are also included in the amnesty.

It would not apply to anyone convicted of killings, human and drug trafficking, terrorism, or rape.

President Emomali Rahmon has to ratify the text before it becomes law.

The move comes ahead of the tenth anniversary on June 27 of the National Peace Accord that ended the 1992-1997 civil war.

(RFE/RL's Tajik Service, Avesta, ITAR-TASS)

Central Asia In Focus

THE COMPLETE STORY: Click on the icon to view a dedicated webpage bringing together all of RFE/RL's coverage of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Production and distribution of rap music is not officially banned, but it

Yo! Turkmen Rappers Flip The Script On Repression

For a growing number of Turkmen youth, rap music has become a way to express their daily struggles and inspire political change in one of the world's most oppressive countries. More