Last July, 21 Uzbeks died, 270 were injured, and 500 were arrested in Karakalpakstan during a series of protests. The Republic of Karakalpakstan is an autonomous nation located in the Northwest section of Uzbekistan, with a population of approximately two million.
Starting before the protests and ending the day after the last protest, the Government of Uzbekistan intermittently cut internet access to Karakalpakstan.
The protests in Karakalpakstan were a result of severe frustration with the Government of Uzbekistan dating back to 1993. When the Soviet Union began to fall during this time, the Republic of Karakalpakstan called for its own independence from Uzbekistan. At the time, Karakalpakstan’s population was tiny and the nation had no support from Moscow, which resulted in Uzbekistan promising a referendum regarding Karakalpakstan’s independence to take place in 20 years.
Twenty years later, the referendum was not held and the people of Karakalpakstan were angry. On July 1 and 2, people took to the streets to protest the Government of Uzbekistan’s broken promise of a referendum.
The citizens of Karakalpakstan maintained a mostly peaceful demeanor while protesting. Some videos appear to show protestors throwing stones at security officers and attacking an armored personnel carrier. These instances seem to be rare, however, with most of the protestors remaining peaceful the whole time.
As a response to the protestors, the security forces used grenades to disperse the crowds. The grenades used contained about 250-280 grams of gunpowder compared to the standard 25-50 used for standard crowd dispersal. Uzbek security officials assured the use of only standard grenades, which was not the case.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) reviewed footage and photographs from the protests and concluded that in at least seven cases, people “probably died from severe tissue damage, by explosives.”
The United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union are now calling for an independent investigation into the protests in Karakalpakstan.
