Authorities in the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan unjustifiably used lethal force to respond to protests in 2022 and have utterly failed to ensure accountability for a multitude of human rights violations. The World Report 2023 by Human Rights Watch says.
The organization also pointed out that dozens of civilians also died during armed clashes in September at the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, where in October, the human rights situation took a notable turn for the worse after Kyrgyz authorities began a concerted crackdown on activists and shuttered independent media.
«Reform claims by Central Asian leaders ring hollow in the face of impunity for serious human rights violations committed by law enforcement officials,» said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. «If Central Asian governments want to turn a page on the violent suppression of protests and other grave human rights abuses that occurred in 2022, they should stop ignoring calls for independent investigations and accountability,»
In the 712-page World Report 2023, HRW provides an overview of the human rights situation in nearly 100 states. In her introductory essay, Tirana Hassan, acting Executive Director of the international human rights organization, notes that the consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine exacerbated tensions and uncertainty in the Central Asian region.
In this context, some Central Asian states sought to deepen ties with Europe and other Western countries. However, without accountability for serious rights abuses, genuine partnerships will remain elusive.
Tirana Hassan
Human Rights Watch experts emphasize that media freedom has come under attack in Kyrgyzstan amid a series of criminal cases against independent journalists, bloggers and media outlets. In October, more than 20 civic activists, journalists and politicians were arrested and detained for two months after speaking publicly against the transfer of Kempir-Abad reservoir to Uzbekistan.
In November, the government tabled for public discussion a draft law on non-profit organizations, which is fraught with harsh and unjustified burdens that could complicate their work.
In Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdymukhamedov took office as president, succeeding his father in a sham election in March. Under Berdymukhamedov’s leadership, Turkmenistan remained a severely repressive authoritarian state. Enforced disappearances, a dire human rights violation in which the government refuses to acknowledge that a person is being held, persisted and dozens of people presumably remained behind bars without any contact with their family or lawyers.
Tajikistan intensified its crackdown on human rights and fundamental freedoms, violently repressing peaceful gatherings in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast against perceived harassment and persecution. At least 40 people were killed as a result of the violence, including in clashes with security forces.
Kazakhstan has rejected repeated calls for an independent investigation into the wave of protests in January while failing to ensure accountability for the 238 people who were killed and the scores of people who were arbitrarily arrested, detained, ill-treated, and tortured. Longstanding violations persisted, including the authorities’ crackdown on government critics using overbroad «extremism» charges, and undue restrictions on peaceful protests, independent trade union organizing, free speech, and women’s rights.
In Uzbekistan, a marker of the deterioration of the situation with freedom of expression in 2022 was the criminal prosecution of bloggers. In July, security forces unnecessarily used lethal force against predominantly peaceful protesters in Karakalpakstan.
HRW analysts remind that a forceful response to protests provokes human rights violations, and brutal repression compromises promises of reform.
