None of the prisoners sentenced to death in Tajikistan received a fair trial, according to evidence presented in the report. For example, defendants have been denied access to lawyers, senior state officials have publicly proclaimed defendants guilty before the start of their trial, and courts have ignored torture allegations. In some cases death penalty trialshave been held in secret.

"Given that the Tajik criminal justice system does not meet internationally agreed standards for a fair trial, the risk that innocent people will be sentenced to death is enormously high," said Nicola Duckworth. “Tajikistan's flawed legal system and its traditionally widespread recourse to the death penalty make this an alarming trend."

In all cases where Amnesty International has detailed information, people sentenced to death claim they were tortured. Allegations have included torture by ferocious beating; rape with a truncheon, penis or other objects; and electrocution of the ears, fingers, toes and anus.

Several prisoners have named the same investigator, but no action has apparently been taken to examine the truth of their allegations. On the contrary, courts have admitted confessions extracted under torture as evidence and used it to condemn prisoners to death.