National Security Employees Day in Tajikistan Date in the current year: December 28, 2024

During the Soviet Era, Sate Security Employees Day, commonly referred to as Chekist Day, was celebrated in all Soviet republics on December 20. It commemorated the founding of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka), the first of Soviet state security agencies, succeeded by the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and then by the Committee for State Security (KGB).

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet republics began to establish their own state security agencies instead of their respective republican KGBs. In Tajikistan, for example, the KGB of the Tajik SSR was reorganized into the National Security Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan by a presidential decree issued on December 28, 1991.

In 1995, the National Security Committee was reorganized into the Ministry of Security. The Ministry was disbanded in 2006 and replaced by the newly created State Committee for National Security (SCNS) that has been Tajikistan’s principal national security and intelligence agency ever since.

The State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan is one of the country’s executive bodies. This is an intelligence and counterintelligence agency tasked with ensuring the national and state security of Tajikistan. Its main responsibilities include ensuring internal and border security, counterintelligence, counter-terrorism, surveillance, and fighting organized crime.

The powers of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan include preliminary investigation and inquest, operational and search activities, and intelligence. Since the SCNS is a state paramilitary organization, it has the right to acquire weapons.

The head of the SCNS of Tajikistan is its chairman, who is appointed by and reports to the president of Tajikistan. Although the Office of the Prosecutor General is tasked with overseeing its activities, it is more of a formality; the external oversight of Tajikistan’s national security agency is virtually nonexistent.

Since most information about the SCNS of Tajikistan is classified, little is known about its organizational structure. However, it is safe to assume that it was modeled after the structure of the Committee for State Security of the Tajik SSR, which included departments responsible for foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, surveillance, economic security, and more. The headquarters of the SCNS are located in Dushanbe. Future officers of the agency are trained a the Higher School of the State Committee for National Security.

National Security Employees Day in Tajikistan was established in 2011. It is celebrated on December 28 to commemorate the founding of the National Security Committee, the predecessor to the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan. The holiday is marked by awards ceremonies and other official events.