An Uzbekistan court on January 31, 2023, convicted all 22 defendants in a trial over July 2022 protests in the Karakalpakstan autonomous region, Human Rights Watch said today.
The key defendant, Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by a court in Bukhara. Fifteen others were sentenced to between 3 and 8 ½ years in prison. Six will serve noncustodial sentences with some restrictions on their activities. Uzbek authorities should comply with their legal obligations and investigate Tazhimuratov's allegations during the trial of torture in detention.
"The guilty verdicts in the Karakalpakstan trial make political points but do nothing for the 21 people who died and many others who suffered serious injuries," said Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Uzbek authorities have still not held anyone accountable for law enforcement's unjustified use of lethal force in response to the July protests."
Human Rights Watch has found that Uzbek security forces used unjustifiable lethal force and other excessive responses to disperse mainly peaceful demonstrators on July 1 and 2. The security forces inappropriately used small arms and various types of flash/bang grenades, weapons that can cause severe injuries and death when used recklessly.
The protests were against proposed constitutional amendments that would have removed from Uzbekistan's Constitution Karakalpaks' right to vote on independence in a referendum and a reference to the region's sovereign status. The proposed amendments were later withdrawn. All but one of the defendants sentenced on January 31, a former police officer, were civilians.
After the protests were dispersed, Uzbek authorities initially detained over 500 people. For several months, the Prosecutor General's Office did not provide any updated official information regarding the total number of people still in detention.
