Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s criminalises HIV ‘exposure’ and transmission with substantially higher penalties than those relating to other diseases.

Article 125 of the Criminal Code criminalises HIV ‘exposure’ with a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment, while transmission by someone aware of their status is penalised with two to five years’ imprisonment, increased to five to ten years’ where committed against multiple people or a minor.

In December 2019, the Tajik parliament approved an amendment to Article 142 of the Criminal Code (‘debauchery’), stating that HIV transmission would now be considered a serious crime. Once enacted, individuals found guilty of ‘deliberately’ infecting someone with HIV will face a more severe punishment – from eight to ten years in prison (increased from two to five years). This is despite a recommendation to Tajikistan from the CEDAW Committee to decriminalise HIV ‘exposure’ and transmission in 2018.

The law is actively enforced in Tajikistan. In its 2018-2022 Criminalisation Scan in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS (EWNA) reported that there were 18 cases and 13 convictions in 2018, 83 (66) in 2019, 68 (62) in 2020, and 38 (34) in the first six months of 2021. The media have regularly covered new cases, most involving female sex workers, since the law began to be actively enforced in 2018, and we have received reports of at least nine cases.

Cases are often sensationalised in media reports, with suggestions that an individual transmitted HIV to many people. For instance, a female sex worker living with HIV was arrested in March 2023 on charges under Article 125, and the report suggested the allegations against the woman were that she transmitted HIV to eleven men. Similarly, a report in May 2023 suggested an arrested woman caused transmission to nine men. Neither report suggests transmission had actually been proven.

In 2022 a draft of a new Criminal Code was published. This Code would retain the criminalisation of HIV, but with reduced penalties and an exemption for disclosure of HIV status. This law has not yet been introduced.

Article 119 of the Code on Administrative Offences makes it an offence to evade medical treatment or examination for people living with HIV or other diseases. The penalty imposed is a fine.