Uzbekistan
Oʻzbekistondagi siyosiy mahbuslar
96 documented cases
Since Shavkat Mirziyoyev succeeded Islam Karimov in 2016, Uzbekistan has released many long-held political and religious prisoners and eased some of the harshest features of the Karimov era. But the reform narrative coexists with continued imprisonment of government critics: bloggers and journalists prosecuted for their reporting, citizens jailed for independent religious practice outside state-sanctioned structures, and the defendants of the 2022 Karakalpakstan unrest.
The July 2022 protests in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan — sparked by proposed constitutional amendments that would have stripped the region of its nominal right to secede — were met with a deadly crackdown and mass trials. Political Prisoner Watch aggregates case records from the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, RFE/RL's Ozodlik service, and international monitors, standardizing them alongside other monitored countries.
Primary sources: Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, RFE/RL — Ozodlik, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International — Uzbekistan
Raisa Khudaibergenova was arrested in Kazakhstan during a wave of detentions targeting Karakalpak activists. These arrests were driven by pressure from the Uzbek government.
Zhangeldy Zhaksymbetov was arrested in Kazakhstan as part of a crackdown on Karakalpak diaspora activists. His arrest was linked to extradition requests from Uzbekistan.
Shukrullo Parpiev is a human rights activist and business owner sentenced to between five and six years of restricted freedom. He was implicated in a group extortion case that rights groups describe as baseless.
Otkirbek Sobirov is a social media user active in a Telegram group focused on local gas issues (reported as “Kokand methane gas”). His case is tied to posts and messages made in late January 2023, following which police searched and seized his phone and initiated proceedings. He was convicted by a court in Fergana for his online activities, which authorities interpreted as calls for demonstrations and the removal of the president amid gas and electricity shortages. He was sentenced to serve time in a general-regime prison colony.
Last updated 2026
Uzbekistan's post-2016 opening was real: the government released prominent long-term prisoners, removed citizens from religious 'blacklists,' and invited some international scrutiny. Yet the state retained the tools of repression. Defamation and 'insult' provisions, anti-extremism statutes, and restrictions on unregistered religious activity continue to send critics and believers to prison, and independent political organizing remains effectively impossible.
The largest single cluster of recent cases comes from Karakalpakstan. In July 2022, proposed amendments that would have ended the region's constitutional right to secede triggered mass protests in Nukus; the security response left people dead and led to sweeping trials. The lawyer and journalist Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, cast by authorities as a ringleader, received a long prison sentence in a case widely criticized by rights groups.
Beyond Karakalpakstan, the documented caseload includes bloggers and journalists prosecuted for critical reporting and citizens imprisoned for practicing or teaching religion outside state-controlled institutions. These cases illustrate the gap between Uzbekistan's reform messaging and the experience of those who test its limits.
Records are aggregated from the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, RFE/RL's Uzbek service (Ozodlik), Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, then translated and standardized into the shared case taxonomy. Each record links to its source; Political Prisoner Watch aggregates existing public reporting rather than producing primary documentation.
39 of 96 cases are not yet plotted on the map, typically because the public source did not record a precise location.
Figures reflect documented cases in this database · a lower bound, not an official total