Brussels (27/10 – 50)
Just in September this year, ten “distinguished” people in Tajikistan have been awarded general ranks.
The decree on conferring general ranks was signed by the country’s president, Emomali Rahmon, on September 7th. According to this decree, there are now three more generals in the Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption. The rank of Major General of Justice was awarded to the head of the Finance and Economic Department, Fazliddin Khodjazoda, the head of the Special Operations Department, Abdurakhmon Davlatzoda, and the head of the Agency for GBAO, Zoir Gafurzoda.
The rank of Major General of Justice was also conferred on Ikrom Zoirzoda, the military prosecutor and Deputy Attorney General of Tajikistan.
Four colonels have been promoted to the rank of major general in the Ministry of Defense: Hussein Shokirzoda, the commander of the mobile forces of the country’s armed forces; Aminjon Amonullozoda, the military commissioner for cities and districts of republican subordination; Davlatsho Mirzozoda, the military commissioner for the Sughd region; and Abdulmumin Davlatzoda, the first deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Public Organization for Assistance to Defense (formerly DOSAAF).
In the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the rank of general was conferred upon the head of the department for combating illegal drug trafficking, Bakhtiyor Nazarzoda, and the head of the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Khatlon region, Fayzullo Nozimzoda.
Annually, on the eve of important state holidays such as Tajikistan’s Independence Day, representatives of the law enforcement and security agencies are awarded the highest officer ranks, including that of major general.
The exact number of generals in Tajikistan is currently unknown. In the past, both domestic and international press portrayed Tajikistan as a country where a significant number of generals emerged in a relatively short period of time.
The authorities of Tajikistan view the conferral of these ranks as “recognition of distinguished service.” However, opposition representatives criticize the government for awarding the title of general not based on specific merits but rather symbolically, as a result of officials’ loyalty to the regime. They claim that, in some cases, some generals have not even undergone mandatory military service.
