Aqylbek Muratbai

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🙏 Please, maximum repost! 🇺🇿 Exactly 16 months ago, on July 15, 2022, the Parliament of #Uzbekistan established an Investigation Commission on the protests in the Republic of #Karakalpakstan. The State Commission was chaired by Ombudsman Feruza Eshmatova F.Eshmatova | Ombudsman Uzbekistan and included (among others) Bobur Bekmurodov Bobur Bekmurodov - Uzbekistan MP, Gulnoz Mamarasulova Gulnoz Mamarasulova, Alisher Qodirov Alisher Qodirov and #AzamFarmonov. For the passed a year and four months, the commission has not published any reports on the findings of their investigations. Moreover, the members of the commission keep silent regarding it in their social networks and do not even provide any responses to written requests from international human rights organizations. Protests in Karakalpakstan began on July 01, 2022, following an attempt by the Shavkat #Mirziyoyev regime to eliminate clauses on the sovereign status of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and clauses on the right of Karakalpaks to secede from Uzbekistan from the country's constitution. According to the officials, 21 people were dead during the brutal suppression of peaceful protests, but human rights activists say there were many more victims. Газета.uz shared that on the second day of the protests there were at least 77 corpses at the Republican Center for Emergency Medical Care in #Nukus city. This is only one of the clinics in one city in Karakalpakstan. There is some evidence of the using of firearms and large caliber grenades against unarmed protesters. During two big show trials, 61 people were convicted for participating in protests in Karakalpakstan and for allegedly "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order". Among those convicted were leading Karakalpak journalists, lawyers, bloggers and civic activists. For instance, journalist Yesimkhan Kanatov was convicted only for sending information on the protests to foreign media as a journalist. Oralbay #Dosnazarov, a lawyer, received 11 years in prison for organizing a meeting of the Karakalpakstan Chamber of Lawyers to discuss constitutional reform. The longest sentence, 16 years in prison, was received by Dauletmurat #Tazhimuratov, who for many years previously had defended the rights of the Karakalpak minority in Uzbekistan. Repression against the Karakalpak diaspora abroad also followed: in neighboring #Kazakhstan 🇰🇿, five ethnics Karakalpaks were arrested at #Tashkent's request. The head of the diaspora in #Aktau, Niyetbay Urazbayev, was sentenced in absentia in Uzbekistan to 12 years in prison for a short video expressing his disagreement with constitutional amendments. Aman #Sagidullayev, a Karakalpak activist permanently residing in #Norway 🇳🇴, was sentenced in absentia by an Uzbek court to 18 years in prison. On November 09, 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor Mary Lawlor, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Peaceful Assembly, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule Former UN Special Rapporteur FoAA rights, expressed their concern about the condition of Karakalpak human rights defender Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, and called on the Uzbek authorities to stop persecuting defenders of the rights of the #Karakalpak minority. The statement of the #UN experts refers to the physical and psychological pressure on Tazhimuratov in the pre-trial detention center of #Urgench city, as well as the current deteriorating state of his health. The office of Feruza Eshmatova F.Eshmatova | Ombudsman Uzbekistan, Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Parliament of Uzbekistan, has published a response to the statements of the #UnitedNations experts. The response refers to an alleged meeting with Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov while he was in the Urgench pre-trial detention center. According to Eshmatova, during this visit Tazhimuratov stated that there was no torture, threats or pressure. As confirmation of this meeting, the Ombudsman's office published the photo of an unidentified man from behind: In addition, Feruza Eshmatova points to the Commission established to investigate the protests in Karakalpakstan Independent Commission, but is silent about the fact that this group has not yet published its report and they do not respond to written requests from independent #humanrights defenders. The tragic events in Karakalpakstan occurred due to the #Uzbek authorities' tacit disregard for the Karakalpaks' discontent, which eventually resulted in mass protests with dozens (possibly hundreds) of victims. Similarly, for the past 16 months, the Investigation Commission on the protests in Karakalpakstan, represented by F.Eshmatova | Ombudsman Uzbekistan Bobur Bekmurodov - Uzbekistan MP Gulnoz Mamarasulova Alisher Qodirov, has been ignoring any requests to publish the results of the investigation and not answering questions from international human rights organizations. This only increases distrust in the work of this Commission and multiplies the general distrust of ethnic #Karakalpaks towards the authorities of Uzbekistan.

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