Uzbekistan on Saturday declared a month-long state of emergency in the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan after thousands were injured in mass protests across the region. The unrest followed an announcement by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev that he planned on scrapping Karakalpakstan’s autonomy as part of his proposed constitutional reforms.
Mirziyoyev signed a decree authorising the state of emergency, which will run from July 3 to August 2. He said it was declared “in order to ensure the security of citizens, defend their rights and freedoms, and restore the rule of law and order.”
According to Anadolu Agency, the emergency limits the entry and exit of vehicles and individuals from the region and imposes a ban on holding public events.
Uzbekistan: This protest footage, apparently filmed in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, on July 1 (not today), defies belief. To dismiss this as the work of criminal gangs is really very unwise pic.twitter.com/9pBbyQqblN
— Peter Leonard (@Peter__Leonard) July 2, 2022
Moreover, in order to calm the rioters, Mirziyoyev backtracked on his decision to withdraw Karakalpakstan’s autonomy and announced that he would not change Karakalpakstan’s status quo.
Mirziyoyev also travelled to the regional capital Nukus on Saturday to meet with regional officials and plead against rioting. “I deem it necessary to leave the legal status of the Republic of Karakalpakstan unchanged” in the draft constitution, he said.
“It is our common duty to maintain the bonds of friendship and brotherhood, harmony and mutual respect that have been forged between the Uzbek and Karakalpak peoples over the centuries,” he remarked, delcaring, “We will build the New Uzbekistan, the New Karakalpakstan together!”
However, he condemned the rioting and said that attempts to occupy local government buildings are illegal. “Strict measures shall be taken in accordance with the law for those who sought to undermine peace, tranquility and public security,” he emphasised, adding that “Uzbekistan has sufficient forces and powers to implement the principle.”
Karakalpakstan is located in Uzbekistan’s northwest and spans over 167,000 square kilometres with a population of around 2 million people, mostly Karakals, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks. Following Uzbekistan’s independence from the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1991, Karakalpakstan was absorbed into the country with the condition that the region could secede from Uzbekistan at any time by holding a referendum.
However, mass protests erupted across the region on Friday after Miziyoyev announced that the new constitution would scrap the region’s autonomous status and take away its right to a referendum on secession. Kun.uz reported that protesters “damaged equipment on the streets and buildings of state institutions.”
⚡️ The status of the Republic of Karakalpakstan will not be changed, and current articles of the Constitution (70-75) will be saved, said the president of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev in Nukus a few minutes ago. A possible loss of sovereignty provoked civil unrest in last 2 days.
— Nikita Makarenko (@nikmccaren) July 2, 2022
Photos published by the news site showed charred trucks and damaged infrastructure as well as a heavy military presence, including armed soldiers and armoured personnel carriers. The outlet reported that Nukus is now fully under the control of the military and that “peace and tranquillity [have] returned to the streets of the city.”
Officials have revealed that there were fatalities during the protests but the exact number of deaths has not been released. Thousands of people, including security forces and protesters, were injured during the unrest. Eurasianet reported that authorities had imposed a “total information blackout” in Karakalpakstan, including blocking access to the internet.
The protests marked the country’s largest display of public unrest since 2005, when violent protests erupted in Andijan against government repression; the death toll for the Andijan massacre ranges from 187 to above 1,500 depending on official and independent reports.