On February 15, 2024, Kazakhstani authorities arrested Karakalpak human rights defender, community leader, and advocate Aqylbek Muratbai in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The authorities intend to deport him to Uzbekistan, at the request of the Uzbekistani authorities. Given the scope of the current repression against vocal critics of Uzbekistan’s policy towards Karakalpakstan, if extradited, Aqylbek Muratbai could face a severe prison sentence.
On 22 May 2023, Kazakhstani human rights defender Galym Agleulov was barred from entering Uzbekistan. The human rights defender was travelling to Tashkent to participate as an observer in the upcoming appeal hearing in the Higher Court of Uzbekistan of the 22 protesters detained in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic in Uzbekistan in July 2022. The court hearing was scheduled for 23 May 2023.
On 5 June 2023, the Higher Court of Uzbekistan upheld the decision of the Bukhara Regional Court to sentence human rights defender and lawyer Dauletmurat Tajimuratov to sixteen years in prison. The human rights defender was tried along with twenty-two other Karakalpak protesters and his was the only sentence that remained unchanged after the appeals trial. Dauletmurat Tajimuratov will spend the first two years of his sentence in prison and the remaining years in a high-security penal colony.
On 25 September 2021, woman human rights defender Valentina Chupik was barred from returning to Russia, where she has resided with refugee status since 2006. Upon her arrival from Yerevan, Armenia, the Russian border patrol officers informed Valentina Chupik that she had violated border crossing regulations and informed her that Russian authorities had denied her refugee status which came into effect immediately.
On 9 February 2024, the authorities of the Vladimir Region Maximum Security Prison (Vladimirskiy Central Prison) in Vladimir Region, Russia, placed human rights defender Bakhrom Khamroev in a punishment cell for five days. This comes just after the 7 February report that the prison authorities subjected the human rights defender to physical violence on 23 January 2024.
On 13 April 2020, The Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan revoked the notice issued to Nemolchi.uz, which stated that some materials published on its website contradicted Uzbek law. The Agency wrote: “Given the relevance and social significance of the problems of domestic violence and violations of women's rights raised by ‘Nemolchi.uz’, the Agency intends to withdraw the previously sent notice, as well as revise the criteria for analysing the content of publications on these issues in the media.’’
On 25 April 2023, the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Kyrgyztan moved to press additional charges against all representatives of the Committee to Protect Kempir-Abad water reserve, including women human rights defenders Gulnara Dzhurabayeva, Klara Sooronkulova, Rita Karasartova and Asya Sasykbayeva. All representatives, targeted since October 2022, are now being accused of “forcible seizure of power” a criminal offense stipulated by the Article 326 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
