Uzbekistan/Karakalpakstan – The media is on the verge of complete collapse…”

Since the violent suppression of the protests in Karakalpakstan/Uzbekistan in early July 2022, pressure on independent media workers has increased dramatically. Free, independent and critical reporting from Uzbekistan is no longer possible. Hopes for democratic change following the death of the dictatorial ruler Islam Karimov in 2016 have not been fulfilled.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, like all post-Soviet countries, had to contend with the legacy of the Soviet dictatorship while rebuilding its now independent state system: a lack of separation of powers, corruption, and nepotism. (See IGFM documentation). For the majority of the post-Soviet successor states, centralized power structures from the old party and KGB elites remained in place. This is especially true in Uzbekistan, where the then-new President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, had previously been both a full member of the Moscow Politburo and First Party Secretary of the Uzbek Soviet Republic. Karimov ruled with an iron fist and mafia-like methods until his death in 2016. Democratic voices were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, or murdered.

The “Andijon Massacre of May 2005” (see ISHR – 50 Years – Book, p. 99 above) remains particularly unforgettable for the ISHR, with victims from its own ranks. The Uzbek military fired into a crowd of thousands of demonstrators in the city’s main square. According to independent reports and photo sources, up to 500 people were shot dead (contrary to the state statement of 9 deaths). An independent investigation was never permitted.

With the death of the dictatorial ruler Islam Karimov in 2016, new hopes for democratic development in Uzbekistan emerged among the refugee diaspora and among the repressed opposition within the country, especially since interim president and presidential successor Shavkat Mirziyoyev promised extensive democratic reforms. Significant reform initiatives and reforms did indeed materialize, particularly in the economic sphere. Mirziyoyev is open to trade relations “in all directions,” in a region that, not least due to European energy diversification policies following the Russian war of aggression, has become a new hub of global trade, amidst major dictatorships such as Iran, China, and Russia. The economic reforms nevertheless led to advanced praise from the West. In 2019, for example, Uzbekistan was even named “Country of the Year” by the news magazine “Economist” due to the reforms it had implemented. However, this did not stop the police from exerting massive pressure on a British journalist for the news magazine (Joanna Lillis) three years later. After a lengthy police interrogation on July 4, 2022, she was forced to delete all her recordings in the country.

This is indicative of the lack of implementation of democratic reforms, particularly in the pluralistic media landscape and the separation of powers. On the contrary, there has been a clear regression towards authoritarian structures and the consolidation of Mirziyoyev’s presidential rule.

A decisive impetus for this was provided by renewed fatal shootings of demonstrators. Against the backdrop of a proposed constitutional amendment to remove the autonomous status of the former Autonomous Soviet Republic of Karakalpakstan from the Uzbek Soviet Republic, mass protests broke out in the Karakalpak capital of Nukus in early July 2022 (the ISHR reported on the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) website Humanrights-online: Uzbekistan: Karakalpaks protest against undermining of their people’s sovereignty – Human Rights Eastern Europe – News & Conflicts). These protests were ended by brutal police violence (according to independent reports, 20 people were killed, over 200 injured, and over 500 detained).

Since this violent crackdown, hardly any independent news has emerged from Karakalpakstan. Independent reporting on the causes of the protests is still not permitted. In its Uzbekistan country report dated April 10, 2025, Reporters Without Borders notes that media workers in Karakalpakstan are falling silent:

Against the backdrop of the protests, several journalists and media workers were convicted as alleged ringleaders in large-scale sham trials at the beginning of 2023, with draconian sentences.

For example, the lawyer and founder of the newspaper El Khyzmetinde, Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, received 16 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for alleged conspiracy to overthrow the constitutional order, organizing mass unrest, embezzlement, and money laundering. El Khyzmetinde’s editor-in-chief, Abdima lik Khojanazarov and his predecessor Yesmigan Qanaatov were each sentenced to five years’ house arrest and an $18,000 fine for allegedly inciting mass unrest and distributing content posing a threat to public safety. Blogger Bakhtiyar Kadirbergenov was filmed and arrested while filming the protests in 2022. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly organizing mass unrest, hooliganism, and resisting state officials. Lolagul Kallykhanova, a journalist and editor of the news site Makan.uz, reported extensively on the Telegram news portal during the 2022 protests. She was arrested after posting a critical post about the planned constitutional amendment and sentenced to an eight-year suspended sentence in January 2023 for allegedly organizing protests, conspiring to seize power, and distributing socially dangerous materials.

Repression against media workers has continued unabated since the suppression of the protests. Most recently, in February 2025, the well-known YouTuber Mustafa Tursynbayev died in custody. In March 2024, he and video blogger Salamat Seitmuratov were sentenced to five years in prison in a closed trial following a fabricated indictment – as is still common practice in Uzbekistan.

As of April 17, 2025, an excerpt from the Facebook page of the well-known Uzbek journalist Ilyos Safaov (working for Kun.uz) reads as follows:

“Yesterday, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Magistrates, Kholmomin Yodgorov, sued the media site EffektUz for a critical article and imposed a fine of 30 times the minimum wage. Previously, Rukhsora Gafurova, a reporter for the television channel “Mening Yurtim,” was prosecuted for an online article.

Abdurakhmon Tashanov, chairman of the Ezgulik Human Rights Society, is currently being held before the Mirabad District Court to testify about an article he wrote in response to the pressure exerted on him. A complaint has been filed against blogger Otabek Bakirov by one of the national agencies. Jahongir Tulaganov’s case is in court, as is Zohid Jumayev’s, and according to his relatives, blogger Zafarjon Jaqinov has completely disappeared in recent days and ‘cannot be found.’ Journalist Anora Sodiqova has had enough of the constant insults and blackmail she is subjected to and is seeking justice in courts to which journalists have no access. The media is on the verge of complete collapse…“

All detentions, trials, and verdicts continue to demonstrate the lack of rule-of-law process. Likewise, prison conditions continue to be characterized by the Soviet internal Gulag system (with hierarchies among prisoners) and the use of structural and physical violence. Furthermore, it goes without saying that all media outlets of these aforementioned journalists and media actors have been closed. After a temporary improvement, Uzbekistan now ranks 148th out of 180 in the world-renowned press freedom ranking (Reporters Without Borders) with a downward trend.