Secondary menu
Human Rights Watch
Uzbekistan: 2 Years on, No Justice in Autonomous Republic
(Berlin, July 1, 2024) – Uzbekistan authorities have increasingly cracked down on calls for independence in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan since protests broke out there two years ago, Human Rights Watch said today.
But Uzbekistan has also yet to hold any senior officials accountable for the excessive force used to quell the protests against proposed constitutional amendments in July 2022. The amendments would have stripped the region of its autonomous status and barred a referendum for independence.
“Uzbekistan’s leadership has not only failed to ensure justice for those killed in the Karakalpakstan protests two years ago, but we’ve also seen a notable increase in repression of other Karakalpak activists ever since,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Uzbekistan’s partners should renew calls for justice and condemn the ongoing crackdown on activists both inside and outside Karakalpakstan.”
On July 1 and 2, 2022, Uzbekistan’s security forces used unjustified lethal force and other forms of excessive force, including discharging small arms and grenades to disperse mainly peaceful protesters in Karakalpakstan. At least 21 people died, including 4 law enforcement officers. Over 270 were injured.
Uzbek authorities backed off the proposed constitutional changes, but they have since taken a heavy hand to anyone who has spoken out or acted in favor of Karakalpakstan’s independence.
The authorities arrested more than 500 people in the immediate aftermath of the protests, and in two high-profile criminal trials, prosecuted a total of 61 people, including lawyers, bloggers, activists, and journalists, for their alleged involvement. Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, a blogger and lawyer who first called for peaceful protests, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Police and the courts ignored his allegations of ill-treatment and torture.
Human Rights Watch has reviewed court documents from the prosecution since July 2022 of nine Karakalpak activists on criminal charges of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” and “producing or distributing material that threatens public safety.” Human Rights Watch also reviewed media reports and statements issued by rights groups. In mid-June, Human Rights Watch wrote to the Uzbek government to request information about the cases but has received no response.
The arrests and prosecutions, including of diaspora Karakalpaks, for no more than peaceful expression of their political opinions, violates internationally protected rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and are inconsistent with Uzbekistan’s reform pledges and purported human rights agenda, Human Rights Watch said.
Two activists – Saaditdin Reimov, 57, and Kungratbay Redzhepov, 57 – were sentenced in December 2022 to four and seven years in prison, respectively. Reimov had expressed his support for a peaceful protest on September 1, 2022, to demand the release of political prisoners, while Redzhepov had called in October 2020 for a rally to demand independence for Karakalpakstan. Both had previously served 15-day administrative sentences for trying to go to the Karakalpakstan capital, Nukus, during the 2022 protests.
Arepbay Aitmuratov was sentenced to seven years in a prison colony on May 10, 2023, for videos he shared in Telegram channels that, according to a state-ordered expert analysis, allegedly contained “ideas of separatism information aimed at inciting panic among the population.” The verdict, which effectively criminalized the expression of ideas, did not specify what language served as the basis for the criminal charges.
An ethnic Turkmen from Karakalpakstan, Jumasapar Dadebaev, 37, who had been living in Türkiye, was forcibly returned to Uzbekistan in January 2022, then arrested. On August 10, 2022, following a closed trial, a Tashkent court convicted Dadebaev of over a dozen criminal charges, including “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order,” “insulting the president,” and “producing or distributing materials containing a threat to public order,” and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
While Dadebaev was not involved in the July 2022 protests, he had previously called for Karakalpakstan’s independence, criticized government officials, and called for peaceful protests.
Uzbekistan has also targeted diaspora activists, in particular those living in Kazakhstan, with unfounded criminal charges. In September 2023, Uzbekistan courts prosecuted in absentia five diaspora Karakalpaks, – Koshkarbai Toremuratov, Zhangeldy Zhaksymbetov, Raisa Khudaibergenova, Ziyuar Mirmanbetova, and Tleubike Yuldasheva – sentencing them to between 3 years and 10 years and 1 month in prison. Police in Kazakhstan have arrested three more Karakalpaks since the start of this year. Uzbekistan has sought their extradition.
On February 22, 2024, Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court ruled that Alga Karakalpakstan, an opposition group in Karakalpakstan, is “extremist” and banned its activities in Uzbekistan. The movement’s leader, Aman Sagidullaev, a Karakalpak activist who has political asylum in Norway, was prosecuted in absentia in connection with the July 2022 protests and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
A human rights defender Vitaliy Ponamarev, told Human Rights Watch that at least one person, Parakhat Musapbarov, has already been prosecuted for alleged membership in Alga Karakalpakstan. On May 30, 2024, the Khojeli district court sentenced Musapbarov to six years in prison under article 244-2, or “membership in a banned extremist organization.”
In the meantime, authorities have failed to ensure justice for the people killed or injured in the 2022 protests, Human Rights Watch said.
Three police officers have been prosecuted for “illegal actions” during the protests. The Kagan City Court on August 4, 2023, sentenced two of them to seven years in prison for torture, and another to three years in prison for perjury and leaving a person in danger resulting in his death in connection with the Karakalpakstan events. But information about the prosecutions was only made public after sentencing, and little is known about the cases, including the specific crimes.
In December 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that it was investigating two deaths and the use of weapons to dispel the protests in Karakalpakstan, but no further information about the investigations has been made public.
A so-called independent parliamentary commission tasked in July 2022 with investigating human rights violations committed during and after the events has yet to publish its findings.
Uzbek authorities should stop imprisoning Karakalpaks for peacefully expressing a desire for an independent Karakalpakstan, release those who have been wrongfully imprisoned, and take urgent steps to ensure justice for those killed during the 2022 events, Human Rights Watch said.
Uzbekistan’s partners, in particular the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, all of whom have representatives in Tashkent, have an important role to play to hold Uzbekistan accountable for ensuring justice for those killed in the protests in July 2022, and in securing the release of wrongfully imprisoned Karakalpak activists and others, Human Rights Watch said.
“Locking up Karakalpak activists for alleged ‘anti-constitutional’ activities, while ignoring the need to ensure accountability for the lives lost during the events of July 2022 is deeply cynical on the part of Uzbek authorities,” Williamson said. “Uzbekistan’s partners, who have made muted references to this recent crackdown, need to speak up, and do so urgently.”
Israel/Palestine: All Victims Have Right to Reparation for Abuses
(Geneva) – All victims of gross human rights violations in Palestine and Israel are owed reparation, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch on June 26 submitted recommendations to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, had invited input to inform her October 2024 report to the United Nations General Assembly on the ongoing hostilities.
Under international law, governments responsible for abuses are obliged to provide effective remedies for human rights violations, including through truth, justice, compensation, memorialization, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Non-state armed groups also have responsibilities to provide reparation. Reparation processes should center on the rights of victims and be carried out after meaningful and effective consultations with them. Other countries that have, or whose businesses have, supported one side or the other should contribute to reparations and all other countries should press the parties to the conflict to commit to provide reparations.
“The parties to the conflict need to repair the harm they have caused to victims in the ongoing hostilities,” said Clive Baldwin, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch. “Governments supporting Israel and Palestinian armed groups should not only use their leverage to stop further abuses, but also to ensure that victims and survivors receive meaningful reparations.”
Albanese sought submissions from civil society, academics, governments, and others on her upcoming report, which will examine “how Israel’s post-October-7 policies and practices have impacted the rights of the Palestinian people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (since 7 October 2023), and in Gaza (since 1 March 2024, which marked the end of the last reporting period).”
Israeli forces have unlawfully attacked residential buildings, medical facilities, and aid workers, and used starvation as a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip, which has suffered a staggering toll of 37,600 people killed. Israel has restricted imports of aid to Gaza as well as medical evacuations, leaving people who have been wounded, women and girls giving birth, people with disabilities and chronic conditions, and others with no or inadequate medical treatment, with devastating consequences. Israeli authorities have detained and mistreated thousands of Palestinians, with persistent reports of torture.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have displaced the majority of the population, including through unlawful evacuation orders, and destroyed the majority of homes, schools, hospitals, agricultural land, and other civilian infrastructure, with many forced to live in unsafe, unsanitary conditions. In the West Bank, where Israeli forces have killed over 500 Palestinians, Israeli authorities have forcibly displaced entire Palestinian communities. These abuses take place in a context in which Israeli authorities are accelerating illegal settlement expansion, subjecting Palestinian prisoners to deteriorating conditions, and committing the continuing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.
Palestinian armed groups on October 7 killed over 800 civilians in southern Israel, mistreated and inflicted sexual and gender-based violence on people they detained, took 251 hostages, destroyed homes, and have continued to launch indiscriminate rockets at population centers.
Both the Israeli authorities and Palestinian armed groups should cease all violations, guarantee that they will not recur, and that they will take measures to address the harm they have done, Human Rights Watch said.
In particular the Israeli authorities should ensure that wounded Palestinians in need of medical treatment and rehabilitation can exit Gaza to obtain it and guarantee their right to return.
Israel should also ensure financial and other support and cooperation to rebuild Gaza, and support the return of Palestinians to homes from which they were displaced in the West Bank. Israel should provide restitution by lifting the ban on Palestinians’ permanently returning to their former communities in what is now Israel, Human Rights Watch said. It should provide financial compensation to all Palestinians for the harm suffered from the crimes committed against them, including physical, psychological, and economic harm.
Israel should support survivors’ access to the truth by allowing visits by independent rights investigators, complying with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to provide fact-finding and investigative bodies unimpeded access into Gaza, and ceasing reported efforts to undermine the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s investigation.
On their side, Palestinian armed groups and Hamas should immediately release civilian hostages, ensure accountability, and provide compensation to victims’ families and to survivors of unlawful attacks and other serious violations in Israel, Human Rights Watch said.
All parties should bring legislation and military orders into compliance with international law. For example, Israel should affirm the applicability of international law to its obligations in occupied Palestinian territory, and dismantle all forms of systematic oppression and discrimination, including laws and policies that violate the prohibitions on apartheid and persecution.
Third countries that provided offensive weapons to the parties to the conflict despite awareness of gross human rights abuses – including among others Germany, Iran, Italy, the UK, and the US as the largest arms supplier – should contribute to reparation. The home countries of businesses that have contributed to or benefited from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza should also ensure reparation for businesses’ roles in violations. Governments should commit to support and assist Palestinians’ return to their communities in Gaza, the West Bank, and in Israel, and third states and others should support compensation as needed.
Reparation could include full apologies from Israel, the United States, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, as well as investigations into atrocity crimes in Palestine and Israel and accountability for those responsible.
“It is vital for any future reparation discussions to ensure meaningful and effective consultations with Palestinian and Israeli victims, as reparation should be centered around their rights,” Baldwin said.
ASEAN Environmental Rights Declaration Needs Transparency
An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) working group should show it is genuinely interested in engaging with civil society if it wants to produce an effective environmental rights declaration, as it resumes drafting today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The working group released its first – and so far only – version of the draft declaration in March 2024 and solicited public comments. Human Rights Watch made a submission in April raising concerns over the text’s lack of protections for Indigenous peoples and failure to include provisions on corporate accountability and climate-related mobility – when the effects of climate change compel people to move.
Other environmental and human rights groups in the region also made submissions to improve the draft. For example, in April, the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, which has 46 members across Asia, called attention to the absence of Indigenous representation in the drafting process. It also expressed concern that the draft was already complete when the working group consulted stakeholders, a process that goes against the right to information that the declaration aims to enshrine.
The working group met again in May in Jakarta, Indonesia, where it began considering the public submissions, but it has not released an updated version of the declaration since then. It has not published the submissions sent by civil society groups, despite a pledge to make these available via the Asia-Pacific Environmental Rights Observatory.
News of proposed guidelines in the Philippines that would make it easier for companies to conduct activities on Indigenous peoples’ land without their free, prior, and informed consent illustrate the need for stronger environmental rights protections. Human Rights Watch research in Indonesia, Malaysia, and elsewhere show Indigenous peoples are often dispossessed of land they have protected for generations.
After convening this week, the working group should publish the most recent version of the declaration and facilitate opportunities to hear from communities affected by environmental destruction. It should not submit the declaration for adoption until stakeholders have a real opportunity to consider whether it reflects the concerns of those at the front lines of environmental protection in the ASEAN region.