Documented Cases.

Razbek Bekmuratov

Razbek Bekmuratov is a teacher at Karakalpak State University. He was detained following the July 2022 protests in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, which were triggered by proposed constitutional amendments regarding the region's autonomous status. His case was transferred to Bukhara for trial. He was sentenced for his alleged involvement in mass riots and received a 6-year sentence in a general regime colony, which was reduced on appeal.

LAST UPDATED · MAY 22, 2026

Azamat Allanazarov

Azamat Allanazarov is a municipal bus driver (Route 47) and resident of Nukus. He was detained on 12 July 2022 in connection with the 2022 Karakalpakstan unrest. He was prosecuted as one of the defendants in the “Case of 39 participants in the 2022 Karakalpakstan unrest.”

Nuratdiyin Khabipov

Nuratdiyin Khabipov is a former employee of the Nukus City security department of the National Guard Directorate for the Republic of Karakalpakstan. He was detained in connection with the July 2022 Karakalpakstan unrest, which was triggered by proposed constitutional amendments affecting the region’s autonomy. Khabipov was prosecuted as part of the case involving 39 participants in the 2022 Karakalpakstan unrest. While authorities characterized the demonstrations as riots, observers consider the prosecutions politically motivated as they target individuals associated with the protest movement.

Polat Shamshetov

Polat Shamshetov was the former chief of the Karakalpakstan Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Department. He was detained in July 2022 following mass protests in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, which were triggered by proposed constitutional amendments that would have removed the region's autonomous status. He was tried in the Bukhara Regional Court alongside 21 other defendants and sentenced to 6 years in prison on January 31, 2023, for inciting and participating in mass unrest. He died in custody at a Bukhara pre-trial detention centre on February 4, 2023, from what authorities cited as pulmonary embolism and acute heart failure.

HEALTH RISK

Activism

Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov

Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov is a Karakalpak lawyer, journalist, and human rights activist sentenced to 16 years in a high-security prison colony for allegedly organizing the July 2022 Nukus protests against constitutional amendments that sought to strip Karakalpakstan of its sovereignty. He was detained before the protests, reportedly beaten, and later rearrested as unrest spread. His trial was held in Bukhara, far from Karakalpakstan, and international human rights groups have condemned the proceedings as politically motivated. He is currently held in High-Security Prison Penal Colony No. 11 in Navoi Region, Uzbekistan, where he faces harsh and degrading conditions, including psychological torture, solitary confinement, and attacks by cellmates.

URGENT ACTION

Social media

Bakhtiyar Kadirbergenov

Bakhtiyar Kadirbergenov is a blogger and the founder of Ayama.uz. He was detained in July 2022 following mass protests in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, which were triggered by proposed constitutional amendments that would have removed the region's autonomous status. His trial was transferred to the Bukhara Regional Court. Following an appeal, his sentence was changed to a non-custodial regime.