On 3 February 2026, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, which handled the case of Rasul Zhumaniyazov as well as the cases of other Karakalpak detainees in Kazakhstan, reported that Zhumaniyazov had departed Kazakhstan for a third safe country.
For an extended period, Zhumaniyazov faced the risk of extradition from Kazakhstan at the request of Uzbekistan, as part of a broader campaign targeting Karakalpak activists following the mass protests in Karakalpakstan in July 2022, when demonstrations against changes to Karakalpakstan’s status in Uzbekistan newly proposed constitution were violently suppressed. Uzbek authorities accused him of involvement in the production, storage, and dissemination of materials allegedly “threatening public order and the constitutional system” formulations widely used to criminally prosecute Karakalpaks for criticism of the authorities and civic activism.
Zhumaniyazov was detained on 26 March 2024 in Astana on the basis of an Uzbek extradition request; by that time, he had been residing in Kazakhstan since 2022 after being forced to leave due to pressure from Uzbek security services. His detention occurred amid a series of similar arrests of other Karakalpak activists in Kazakhstan, Tashkent submitted detention and extradition requests for approximately ten individuals, most of whom spent about a year under extradition arrest; one of them, Rinat Utambetov, was extradited to Uzbekistan in December 2024, while others managed to leave the country with the assistance of international organizations.
After nearly a year in custody, against the backdrop of statements about the politically motivated nature of the prosecution and the risk of ill-treatment if extradited, Rasul Zhumaniyazov was released on 25 March 2025 following the expiration of the maximum permissible term of extradition detention.However, Zhumaniyazov’s release from the detention center did not bring safety or legal certainty, as Kazakhstan denied his asylum application, as well as the asylum requests of other Karakalpak activists, leaving him in a situation of prolonged uncertainty and continued risk of extradition.Based on information provided by the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Rasul Zhumaniyazov was the last Karakalpak activist whose extradition was requested by Uzbekistan from Kazakhstan. Freedom for Eurasia expresses its deep gratitude to all partner organizations and individuals working on the Karakalpak issue in Kazakhstan, whose sustained and coordinated efforts made it possible to ensure the safety of Zhumaniyazov and other Karakalpak activists, and reaffirms its commitment to continuing to draw international attention to the situation in Karakalpakstan and to ongoing human rights violations affecting the Karakalpak people.