In December 2016, Vaisiddin Odinaev attended a peaceful political protest in Prague, opposing the Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon. A few days later, security officers took Odinaev’s grandfather into custody and interrogated for five hours about his grandson’s activities.5 In October 2023, Tajik authorities targeted almost 50 family members of opposition members living abroad who helped protests in Germany against President Rakhmon’s visit to Berlin. They were detained, questioned, and reportedly subjected to ill-treatment, threats, blackmail, and insults. Several of the participants of the protest in Berlin publicly called on the Tajik government to stop harassing and punishing their family members. Turkmenistan Beginning several decades ago, relatives have apparently been killed in retaliation for the activities of a family member living outside the country. Three brothers of Chary Annamuradov, an independent journalist who fled Turkmenistan in 1999, died under suspicious circumstances in the year following his departure. In August 2016, unidentified men kidnapped and beat Annamuradov’s last living brother, Altymurad Annamuradov. They returned him to his home after two days in a weak and bruised condition, and in a fragile emotional state. Family members told Human Rights Watch that he was questioned about his brother, beaten, and humiliated. He died two days later. His kidnapping and eventual death occurred while his brother, Chary Annamuradov, was arrested in Belarus and threatened with extradition to Turkmenistan.6 Abuse of Consular Services To travel abroad, a person needs documents from the consular services of their home country. Governments have acted through their consular services to cancel passports or refuse to provide such services as a way to target individuals living abroad. Governments refusing to renew or issue official documents may be violating the international human right to a nationality as recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also Vaisiddin Odniaev, Ilhomjon Yakybov and Shabnam Khudoydodova all appeared in a video produced by Human Rights Watch in 2016 to tell their accounts. 5 6 For more information on this case, please see the section titled “Unlawful Removals.” 27 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2024