HRF succeeds in Uzbekistan case: UN calls for immediate release of Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov

NEW YORK (April 8, 2025) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) received a favorable opinion from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), which found that Uzbekistan’s detention of Karakalpak activist and lawyer, Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, is arbitrary and violates fundamental international human rights law. 

HRF, with assistance from Freedom Now and Proskauer Rose LLP, submitted a petition on behalf of Tazhimuratov to the UNWGAD in July 2024. Tazhimuratov was arrested in July 2022, following protests against proposed constitutional amendments in Uzbekistan which would strip Karakalpakstan of its autonomous status. His detention is part of a broader crackdown on Karakalpak activists and demonstrates severe violations of fundamental rights in Uzbekistan. Since his arrest, reports of abuse against Tazhimuratov, including physical beatings, intentional withholding of food and supplies, and other inhumane treatment, have continued to surface. Recently, Tazhimuratov’s domestic lawyer detailed his ill-treatment in prison and called for a presidential pardon on behalf of his client. 

“The UNWGAD’s decision is a welcome development and confirms what we already knew: that Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov is being held in arbitrary detention and suffering abuse at the hands of prison authorities because of his advocacy on behalf of Karakalpakstan,” HRF International Legal Associate Kaitie Holland said. “Not only did the regime violate Tazhimuratov’s fundamental freedom of speech and his right to engage in public affairs, it also engaged in gross violations of his due process rights, depriving him of avenues to justice.”

In July 2022, Tazhimuratov gave a public speech opposing constitutional amendments that would deprive Karakalpakstan of its autonomy. In response, masked men, apparently regime officials, abducted him from his home and subjected him to beatings before releasing him later that evening. Three days later, when mass protests against the amendments erupted across the region, officials arrested Tazhimuratov along with more than 20 other participants.

“Tazhimuratov became a scapegoat following the protests against the proposed constitutional amendments. Officials arrested him without a warrant, transferred him to a facility nearly 100 miles away via helicopter, and placed him under pretrial detention for four months without due process,” Holland said. “He received an excessive 16-year sentence — more than any other defendant — under Articles 159, 244, and 244-1 of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code, all of which are used to limit fundamental freedoms and target activists. To this day, Tazhimuratov is facing ill-treatment in prison.” 

The UNWGAD’s decision recognizes that Tazhimuratov’s detention has no legal basis. It explains his charges were linked to his exercise of his fundamental rights and freedoms that there were significant failures of due process, resulting in the denial of Tazhimuratov’s right to fair trial. Specifically, the UNWGAD criticized the failures to respond to allegations of ill-treatment and torture, to admit witnesses on behalf of Tazhimuratov, and to ensure proper translation of the Karakalpak language. Additionally, the UNWGAD found that Tazhimuratov’s case reflects a broader pattern of discrimination against Karakalpaks for their political activism and ethnic identity.

HRF joins the UNWGAD in its call for the immediate release of Tazhimuratov and a full and independent investigation into his case, and urges the international community to hold the Uzbek regime accountable for the ongoing violation of Tazhimuratov’s rights and the rights of all Karakalpaks.

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

Supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.