Odinaev, Vaisiddin

Gender: .
State of concern: .

Who, Why and How exiled:

Vaisiddin Odinaev is an independent civil society activist, engaged in peaceful online activism that supports democratic reform in Tajikistan (Norwegian Helsinki Committee, 2016). He is also the brother Ehson Odinaev, a prominent blogger with "Group 24", who disappeared in St Petersburg in 2015 (Human Rights Watch, 2016).

Category of exile: . (Definitions here.)
Alleged affiliation: Civil society.

Which stages experienced: Stage 1   not Stage 2   not Stage 3. (Definitions here.)
Date of most serious incident: 2016.
Violence experienced: .

Stage 1 details (accusations/ charges/ Interpol notice/ extradition requests):

On 1st December 2016, Odinaev attended a demonstration in Prague, where the Tajik President, Emomali Rahmon, was attending an official visit with the President of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman. At the protest, Odinaev chanted that Rahmon was a dictator and held up signs that stated "Rahmonov! Don't Run from the People!". Tajik security officials dressed in plain clothes then approached Odinaev and told him "we will kill you right here" (Human Rights Watch, 2016).

Five days later, Tajik security officials took his 75 year old Grandfather, Kudrat Odinaev in Hissar, and interrogated him for five hours about his grandsons political activities. When Hissar questioned why he was being detained when he had not seen his grandson in years, he was informed that it was because of his grandsons political activities (Human Rights Watch, 2016; Human Rights Watch, 2018).

On 21st September 2016, Odinaev spoke at an OSCE for an event entitled "Tajikistan: Hunting Critics at Home and Abroad". Following the event, many of his relatives in Dushanbe were harassed and interrogated by Tajik security personnel (Relief Web, 2016).

International arrest warrant: .

Countries of transit, asylum and/or residence: .

Current status:

Last known activity was in the Czech Republic in 2016 (Human Rights Watch, 2016; Human Rights Watch, 2016; Human Rights Watch, 2018).


Press sources:

Human Rights Watch (2016). Tajikistan: Abuse of Dissidents’ Families. [online] Human Rights Watch. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/20/tajikistan-abuse-dissidents-families [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].

Human Rights Watch (2016). Tajikistan: Video Spotlights Crackdown. [online] Human Rights Watch. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/21/tajikistan-video-spotlights-crackdown [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].

Human Rights Watch (2018). World Report 2018: Rights Trends in Tajikistan. [online] Human Rights Watch. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/tajikistan [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].

Norwegian Helsinki Committee (2016). Tajikistan’s Human Rights Crisis: Responses to Dushanbe’s Political Crackdown. [online] Nhc.no. Available at: http://www.nhc.no/no/vart_arbeid/aktuelt/Tajikistan%E2%80%99s+Human+Rights+Crisis%3A+Responses+to+Dushanbe%E2%80%99s+Political+Crackdown.b7C_wlzSZ7.ips [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].

Relief Web (2016). Tajikistan: Violent retaliation against activists. [online] ReliefWeb. Available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/tajikistan/tajikistan-violent-retaliation-against-activists [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018].