In the Region

Is a Karakalpak Leader Being Tortured in Prison?

There is new information that Karakalpak lawyer and rights activist Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov “endures torture and threats in an Uzbekistan prison.”

Freedom for Eurasia wrote that on June 27, Tazhimuratov was physically assaulted, “with four guards holding him down while one administered the beating.”

On July 26, Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders posted about Tazhimuratov on X (formerly Twitter).

“I am hearing very disturbing reports that Dauletmurat Tajimuratov faced inhumane conditions & beatings in Uzbekistan’s penal colony 11 in Navoi,” Lawlor wrote.

On July 1, 2022, Tazhimuratov went to the city administration in the Karakalpak capital, Nukus, to request permission to conduct a public meeting on proposed amendments to Uzbekistan’s constitution.

The draft constitution removed Karakalpakstan’s status as a sovereign republic, and also its right to conduct a republic referendum to secede from Uzbekistan.

Tazhimuratov was detained and when word of this spread through Nukus, thousands of people gathered outside the administration building.

Police and security forces moved to disperse the demonstrators and violence broke out that left, officially, 21 people dead and hundreds injured.

Tazhimuratov was branded as the organizer of the unrest and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, the longest sentence given to any of the 61 people convicted for their involvement in the violence.

Tazhimuratov was due to be transferred from maximum-security to a less restrictive penal facility on July 5, but it was unclear if that happened.

On July 24, 2024, Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court rejected Tazhimuratov’s appeal of his conviction.

Why It’s Important: The violence in Karakalpakstan on July 1-2, 2022, is, arguably, the blackest mark on the record of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s government.

Since he came to power in late 2016, Mirziyoev has been talking about the “new” Uzbekistan and there have been improvements in some areas, including the rights of women and children, and an easing of control over religion.

However, the July 2022 violence in Karakalpakstan and the treatment of Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov continue to tarnish the Uzbek government’s reputation and raise doubts about how new Mirziyoev’s “new” Uzbekistan is.

Kazakhstan Ready to Cash in on Critical Minerals

Kazakhstan is looking to become a major source of critical minerals.

Already the world’s leading producer of uranium, Kazakhstan is working with foreign partners to uncover other minerals that are increasingly in global demand.

Concerns over climate change have led to renewed interest in nuclear power.

Kazakhstan has the second largest reserves of uranium in the world and is world’s leading uranium producer and exporter.

In both 2022 and 2023, Kazakhstan’s uranium output was just over 21,000 metric tons.

Kazakhstan’s state nuclear company Kazatomprom announced July 26, it would start surveying work for uranium at the “Vostochny” block.

Kazatomprom said the site is estimated to hold 30,000 metric tons of uranium.

Vostochny is part of the Zhalpak field located in Kazakhstan’s southern Turkestan Province.

The Zhalpak field is operated by a joint venture of Kazatomprom and the China National Nuclear Corp.

Also, American company Cove Kaz Capital Group signed a contract on July 24 with Kazakh national geological-surveying company Kazgeologiya to prospect for rare earth elements.

The deal is for works in the northern Kustanay Province.

On April 29, Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev told parliament that Kazakhstan signed an agreement to mine lithium with German company HMS Bergbau AG.

That deal is worth $500 million.

In March, South Korea’s Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources announced its surveying work in eastern Kazakhstan located a field with $15.7 billion worth of lithium.

A South Korean company already has a contract to help Kazakhstan explore and extract the lithium.

Why It’s Important: Kazakhstan is in a great position to profit from the international search for critical minerals.

Kazakhstan’s abundance of these vital materials is also good news for many governments.

China has a “near monopoly” on many critical materials, which has added a sense of urgency to the search to find these minerals in other countries. 

Majlis Podcast

The latest Majlis podcast looks at the evolving relationship between Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Central Asia.

When the Taliban were in power in the late 1990s, most of the Central Asian governments viewed the Afghan group as a threat.

After the Taliban again seized Afghanistan in 2021, most of the Central Asian government took an entirely different approach to the Taliban.

Trade has been steadily growing between Central Asia and Afghanistan and Central Asian officials regularly meet with Taliban representatives to discuss cooperation in major projects.

The guests on this podcast are:

• Qadir Habib, director of RFE/RL’s Afghan Service, known locally as Azadi;
• Pahlavon Turgunov, managing editor at RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik; and
• Farruh Yusupov, director of RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk. 

What I’m Following

IRPT Activist Dies in Tajik Prison

Muhammadali Fayzmuhammad, member of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), died in the hospital at the Vakhdat prison on July 26.

Fayzmuhammad’s son-in-law Muhammadi Nuri said Fayzmuhammad suffered from heart problems and diabetes and had been in the hospital for a week before dying.

Fayzmuhammad was one of 14 IRPT members arrested in September 2015 after the party had its registration annulled, followed by a court ruling declaring the IRPT an extremist group.

All 14 were convicted and given long prison sentences.

Fayzmuhammad was serving a 23-year prison term.

The IRPT was part of a coalition of groups that fought against the Tajik government during the 1992-1997 Tajik civil war.

As part of the 1997 Tajik Peace Accord, the IRPT was given places in the government, but gradually lost those positions, finally losing their last two seats in parliament in the February 2015 parliamentary elections. 

Turkmenistan Continues to Look West

There appears to be renewed interest in the Caspian Sea-Black Sea (CS-BS) transportation route.

Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry reported Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Gurbanov visited Romania on July 18 to meet with officials, including the head of Romania’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

Trade and transportation officials from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Turkmenistan are due to meet in Bucharest later this year to advance use of the CS-BS route.

Turkmenistan has also been working with Turkey to open new trade routes through the South Caucasus to Turkey and Europe. 

Fact of the Week

Thanks for Reading

Thanks for reading Central Asia in Focus! I appreciate you sharing it with other readers who may be interested.

Feel free to contact me on X, especially if you have any questions, comments, or just want to connect about topics concerning Central Asia.

Until next time,
Bruce

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