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Uzbekistan: Guarantee Karakalpak Lawyers Safety Click to expand Image
Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov in the defendants cage on the last day of his trial on charges related to the July 2022 protests in Nukus, the main city in Karakalpakstan, at a court in Bukhara, Uzbekistan on January 31, 2023.
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(Berlin, October 1, 2026) – Uzbek officials should immediately ensure the safety and well-being of an imprisoned Karakalpak blogger and lawyer, Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, and secure his release, Human Rights Watch said today. Since his conviction and transfer to prison in 2023, prison officials and other prisoners have apparently beaten and subjected Tazhimuratov to other humiliations repeatedly and with impunity.The torture and humiliation of Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov needs to stop, said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Tazhimuratov shouldnt have been imprisoned in the first place, but until he is released, Uzbek officials should ensure that he is not subjected to further ill-treatment or torture.In a letter addressed to the United Nations that was smuggled out of prison in September 2026, a copy of which Human Rights Watch has seen, Tazhimuratov describes inhumane prison conditions and beatings by prison officials. [T]here are 8 of us in a 4x5 meter cell… Tazhimuratov wrote. …60 days have passed since I saw the bathhouse, I wash in the toilet.In his letter, he says that on July 8, five prison officials beat him, dragged him on the ground, and ordered him say you are Uzbek. He notes that for a week he passed blood when he went to the bathroom. Tazhimuratov wrote that he was beaten again on September 9 by two men at a prison officials behest. Tazhimuratov is a blogger and lawyer from Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic in northern Uzbekistan. In January 2023, he was convicted for his alleged role in anti-government protests in Karakalpakstan in July 2022 and given a 16-year prison sentence.Tazhimuratov was convicted for calling for a peaceful protest and speaking out against proposed constitutional amendments that would have stripped Karakalpakstan of its sovereign status. In May, Tazhimuratov was additionally prosecuted for disrupting the work of a penal institution, and two-and-a-half-years were added to his prison term.Tazhimuratov should not be in prison, Human Rights Watch said. In a decision adopted in November 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that Tazhimuratovs detention is arbitrary under international law and therefore unlawful. The UN group said that the Uzbekistan government should release him immediately.In his September letter, Tazhimuratov cites his need for protection under the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He concluded his letter by pleading: I beg you to help and protect the fallen from being finished off.Tazhimuratov has the right to absolute protection against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Under international human rights law, Uzbek authorities have a duty of care for people in detention, including an obligation to protect their rights to life, bodily integrity, health, safety, dignity, and security.Uzbekistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention (article 9) and requires that all detainees be treated humanely and with respect for their dignity (article 10 (1)). The Human Rights Committee, which oversees compliance with the ICCPR, requires states under article 10(1), to ensure that prisoners have among other standards, adequate sanitation, floor space, cubic content of air, and ventilation.The Nelson Mandela Rules provide that at a minimum every prisoner should be able to have a bath or shower once a week (rule 16), and that all sleeping accommodation meets all requirements for health, including minimum floor space and ventilation (rule 13).This is not the first time Tazhimuratov has alleged ill-treatment and torture in prison and raised other concerns about the conditions of his detention, Human Rights Watch said.Human Rights Watch has repeatedly urged Uzbek authorities, pending his full release, to review the conditions in which Tazhimuratov is being held and ensure his access to adequate health care, food, and sanitation, and freedom from torture. Other human rights bodies have also called for Tazhimuratovs release. In January, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, issued a statement calling on the Uzbek government to guarantee [Tazhimuratovs] safety … and release him.Uzbekistans international partners, including the United Nations office in Tashkent, participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Union delegation and other diplomatic representations to Uzbekistan, should urgently raise concerns about Tazhimuratovs well-being in detention. They should also call on Uzbekistan to implement the decision of the UN working group and release Tazhimuratov.Uzbek prison officials should recognize that they are accountable for rights violations in places of detention, including for the abusive and inhumane treatment of Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, Williamson said. Uzbekistans international partners should press Uzbek authorities to immediately stop Tazhimuratovs abusive treatment in violation of international human rights law and release him.
22 days ago
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