[JURIST] The Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan [official website] voted unanimously Wednesday to approve an amnesty proposed by President Emomali Rahmon [official website, in Tajikistani], paving the way for Rahmon to reduce the sentences of hundreds of Islamic militants imprisoned for fighting against the government during the 1992-1997 Tajikistani Civil War [Wikipedia backgrounder]. The amnesty will not reduce the sentences of militants convicted of terrorism, multiple murders, kidnapping, human trafficking, or those sentenced to serve life imprisonment.

At least 50,000 people were killed during the five-year civil war, which ended following the signing of a UN-sponsored armistice. The UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), which was deployed in December 1994 to monitor a ceasefire established by the Tehran Agreement [PDF text], remained in Tajikistan until May 2000 following the expiration of its mandate to monitor the peace and demobilization process. AP has more.