In October 2024, four Karakalpak activists – Tleubike Yuldasheva, Ziuar Mirmanbetova, Raisa Khudaibergenova, and Zhangeldi Zhaksymbetov – received word that they had been granted asylum in the United States.
The four had been detained in Kazakhstan between September and November 2022 at the request of Uzbekistan along with Koshkarbai Toremuratov (who was granted asylum in Poland in January 2025). Their detentions came in the wake of violence in Karakalpakstan – an autonomous republic with a complicated history with Tashkent – earlier in 2022, when Uzbek authorities offered up a constitutional revision that would have deleted Karakalpakstan’s constitutional right to secede.
The four activists were held in pretrial detention in Almaty for about a year each before being released in the latter half of 2023. Although they were released rather than being deported to Uzbekistan, their asylum applications in Kazakhstan were denied – putting them in a kind of limbo.
A few months later, another Karakalpak activist, Aqylbek Muratbai, was detained, illustrating the precarity of remaining in Kazakhstan and the desire on the part of some Uzbek authorities to reach across the border. (Muratbai was released in February 2025).
In the following interview, Yuldasheva, Mirmanbetova, Khudaibergenova, and Zhaksymbetov speak for themselves about the events of 2022, their activism, their connections to Karakalpakstan and Kazakhstan, and what steps they hope are taken by the international community and the Uzbek authorities to address the situation in Karakalpakstan.
The Diplomat thanks the intermediary who helped translate and edit the interview responses.
In October 2024 you and other Karakalpak activists who had previously been detained in Kazakhstan, at the request of Uzbekistan, were granted asylum in the United States. What can you tell us about that process and your arrival in the U.S.?
In their own words, the Karakalpak refugees express deep gratitude to the United States for granting them asylum and protecting their rights. We are grateful to everyone, especially the U.S. government, for protecting us and providing shelter in the U.S., allowing us to be here instead of in a prison in Uzbekistan.
Ziuar Mirmanbetova recalls the terror of being targeted by Uzbekistan’s authorities: “When Uzbekistan’s special services oppressed us in Kazakhstan, we felt hopeless. It was thanks to international human rights organizations — and, crucially, the protection offered by the U.S. government — that we were spared extradition and found refuge. Being granted asylum wasn’t just a lifeline; it was an acknowledgment of the human rights violations we suffered. We arrived in the United States determined to expose the truth about Karakalpakstan’s sovereignty and to rally international support for our cause.”
This act of protection by the United States stands as a symbol of democracy and a beacon of hope for those suffering under oppressive regimes.
Media coverage has broadly labeled you as “activists.” How would you describe yourselves?
We are not just activists; we are defenders of Karakalpakstan’s sovereignty.
The 1990 Declaration of Sovereignty established that Karakalpakstan is independent of Uzbekistan and has the right to self-determination. However, Tashkent has violated this legal status. Karakalpak history was erased from the curricula, replaced with Uzbek history. Karakalpak signs were replaced with Uzbek. Despite Karakalpak being the state language, everything has been in Uzbek. Uzbek authorities began sterilizing Karakalpak women. Young men were forced into surgeries under the pretext of illness.
Tell me about your life in Kazakhstan and your connections to Karakalpakstan. What do you want people to know about Karakalpakstan?
Karakalpak people do not face discrimination in Kazakhstan and are treated with dignity.
However, Uzbekistan has created a harsh economic environment in Karakalpakstan, forcing many to seek opportunities in other countries where jobs are available.
Raisa Khudaibergenova worked as a cardiologist in Almaty. She was falsely accused of being intoxicated in Karakalpakstan during the protests in Nukus on July 2, 2022. In reality, she was never in Karakalpakstan that day; she was in Kazakhstan, working and attending to patients as usual.
What was your reaction to the Uzbek constitutional amendments proposed in the spring of 2022, which dropped the specific articles referring to Karakalpakstan’s sovereign status and right to secede?
We were outraged as the sovereignty of Karakalpakstan was under direct threat. The Karakalpak diaspora in Kazakhstan met with the Uzbek Embassy to express our concerns. Our families and friends in Karakalpakstan voiced their opposition on social media, called, and sent letters to government officials. However, the government completely disregarded these protests, which ultimately led to the organization of a peaceful demonstration.
Those provisions were ultimately retained, but not until after considerable violence in Nukus in July 2022. What do you think is important for the world to understand about the events of that summer?
The tragedy in Karakalpakstan in July 2022 was a horrific display of state violence, constituting clear war crimes and crimes against humanity at the hands of the Uzbek government. Protestors, unarmed and peacefully defending their constitution, were met with ruthless force as Uzbekistan’s military unleashed military-grade weapons and grenades upon them. The government has deliberately downplayed the true scale of the atrocities, but the truth cannot be concealed.
In a desperate attempt to shift blame, the Uzbek authorities falsely accused protesters of setting fire to a truck. However, there were no burn marks on the ground, revealing the fabricated nature of the accusation. The burned truck, brought in from another region of Uzbekistan, was used as a prop to falsely implicate the protesters. The subsequent internet blackout and systematic destruction of evidence only serve to underscore the government’s efforts to cover up these crimes.
This was not just a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters; it was an intentional, calculated effort by the Uzbek government to suppress dissent and erase the truth. The world must recognize these atrocities for what they are – an attempt to silence a people’s demand for justice and self-determination.
What steps do you think need to be taken to address the situation in Karakalpakstan? By local leaders, by Uzbekistan, by the international community?
We want the international community to understand that Karakalpakstan stands at a historic crossroads. This is a nation that declared its independence on December 14, 1990, becoming the second state after Lithuania to break free from Soviet domination. Karakalpakstan’s bold assertion of self-determination is not only a legal and moral claim but also a strategic one. Rich in critical mineral resources and strategically located near Russia, China, and Iran, Karakalpakstan’s independence is crucial for regional stability and global economic interests.
For decades, Karakalpakstan has suffered under Uzbek domination, enduring cultural erasure, forced assimilation, and systematic human rights abuses, including forced sterilizations, mass detentions, and the suppression of its language and customs. Despite these hardships, the 1990 Declaration of Sovereignty remains a testament to its enduring spirit and the legitimacy of its quest for nationhood.
Further reinforcing its claim, Karakalpakstan signed a 20-year agreement with Uzbekistan acknowledging that its inclusion in Uzbekistan is only temporary. Both Karakalpakstan’s and Uzbekistan’s constitutions recognize Karakalpakstan as a sovereign entity, reaffirming its right to self-determination.
The international community must not turn a blind eye to these violations. Upholding the principles of justice and self-determination means recognizing that when a people are systematically oppressed and denied their fundamental rights, their pursuit of independence is not an act of rebellion, but a necessary step toward freedom.
Now is the time for decisive action. The world must stand in solidarity with Karakalpakstan by:
- Recognizing its sovereign right to self-determination.
- Condemning the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Uzbek regime.
- Releasing all Karakalpak political prisoners.
- Supporting international legal processes to hold perpetrators accountable.
- Acknowledging the strategic, economic, and legal case for Karakalpakstan’s independence.
The international community has both the responsibility and the opportunity to ensure that another nation is not denied its birthright of independence.