Protocol on the fundamental principles of establishing peace and national accord in Tajikistan

17 August 1995

The President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmonov, and the leader of the Tajik opposition, Abdullo Nuri, strongly determined to ensure observance of the highest interests of the Tajik people, affirm that dialogue and cooperation are the essential ways to achieve stable peace in the country. To this end, the Government undertakes to refrain from carrying out any acts that run counter to the provisions of the protocols being concluded and from adopting such laws or measures which may be incompatible with these protocols. The Tajik opposition, for its part, undertakes to wage a political struggle by exclusively peaceful means in accordance with the laws in force in the Republic of Tajikistan and in conformity with the conditions and guarantees laid down in a general agreement on the establishment of peace and national accord in the country. In this connection, the parties have agreed:

1. To conduct, beginning on 18 September 1995, a continual round of negotiations aimed at concluding, at the earliest possible date, a general agreement on the establishment of peace and national accord in Tajikistan. The venue for the negotiations shall be agreed upon by the parties through the mediation of the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General.

2. The general agreement referred to shall consist of separate protocols on the following groups of problems

(a) Political problems, including a consultative forum of the peoples of Tajikistan, the functioning of all political parties and political movements and the participation of their representatives in the power structures, as well as the deepening of the democratisation process in Tajik society;

(b) Military problems, including reforms of the governmental power structures, and the disbandment, disarmament and reintegration of the opposition's armed formations into the Government's armed forces or Tajikistan's civilian sector, in accordance with a timetable to be agreed upon at subsequent negotiations;

(c) The voluntary, safe and dignified repatriation and reintegration of refugees, including legal, economic and social guarantees for their protection;

(d) A commission to monitor and verify compliance by the parties with the general agreement;

(e) Guarantees for implementing the general agreement, including a possible role to be played by the United Nations, States and international organizations acting as observers at inter-Tajik negotiations;

(f) A donors' conference for financing the programmes to reintegrate refugees, displaced persons and persons demobilized during the national reconciliation process, and also for providing necessary assistance in restoring the national economy, which has been destroyed by the civil war.

3. The protocols on these groups of problems shall be integral parts of the general agreement, and this document shall be incorporated into it as the first protocol.

4. Acting in the spirit of this Protocol and with a view to creating the necessary conditions for conducting further negotiations, the parties have agreed to extend the period of validity of the Agreement on a Temporary ceasefire and the Cessation of Other Hostilities on the Tajik-Afghan Border and within the country for the next six months until 26 February 1996.

5. The texts of this Protocol, which were signed by Mr. Rakhmonov, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, and Mr. Nuri, the leader of the Tajik opposition, were exchanged on 17 August 1995, through the intermediary of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ramiro Piriz-Ballon.

(signed) E. Rakhmonov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan

(signed) A. Nuri, Leader of the United Tajik Opposition

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