Азаттык Азия: Civil society — main victim of repression in autonomous regions of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Azattyq Asia feature by Chris Rickleton (Крис Риклтон) published on 30 May 2023 compares the 2022 crackdowns on civil society in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (ГБАО) of Tajikistan and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Каракалпакстан) in Uzbekistan. The article reports that suppression of the May 2022 GBAO protests killed at least 16 people according to official figures, while Azattyq journalists confirmed 34 deaths; Uzbek authorities reported 21 deaths in Karakalpakstan in July 2022.

The article states that Pamiri human-rights defender and journalist Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva (Ульфатхоним Мамадшоева) was sentenced in December to 21 years in prison on extremism charges and transferred from pre-trial detention to a women’s colony; her former husband Kholbash Kholbashov (Холбаш Холбашов) was also detained, and state TV broadcast what was presented as their confession. An anonymous source told Azattyq her imprisonment was linked to her reporting on the 2021 killing of young Pamiri Gulbidin Ziyobekov (Гулбидин Зиебеков) by Tajik security forces. The article notes Mamadshoeva and Kholbashov were on the side of the United Tajik Opposition (ОТО) during the 1992–1997 civil war.

The article quotes Steve Swerdlow (Стив Свердлоу) of the University of Southern California, Zamira Dildorbekova (Замира Дилдорбекова) of the Institute of Ismaili Studies (Aga Khan) in London, and Kazakhstan-based Karakalpak activist Akylbek Muratov (Акылбек Муратов). It reports that Pamiris, estimated at 250,000 in GBAO, are mostly Ismaili Shia Muslims, and that five GBAO civil-society groups said authorities pressured them to disband voluntarily. A GBAO administration spokesperson is reported as saying closure applied only to NGOs that “interacted with criminal groups.” The article also reports the 16-year sentence of Karakalpak lawyer-journalist Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov (Даулетмурат Тажимуратов) following the July 2022 Nukus protests.