Freedom for Eurasia is deeply alarmed by the ongoing mistreatment in Uzbekistan’s KIN-11 colony of Dauletmurat Tajimuratov, a Karakalpak human rights defender who was imprisoned for sixteen years for exercising his fundamental rights for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Uzbekistan’s KIN-11 colony. Reports indicate severe human rights violations, forced labor, physical abuse, and inhumane detention conditions.
For the past eight months, Dauletmurat Tajimuratov has been working in a lime production facility under hazardous conditions without a formal employment contract. He is also forced to work in a coal plant, receiving only 250 grams of dairy products every two to three months. The equipment used is uncertified and homemade, leading to significant health risks. Due to constant exposure to lime dust, his eyesight and overall health have deteriorated. Prolonged exposure to respirable coal dust can cause the development of a debilitating dust-related lung disease.
Despite a 2018 pledge from the President to install surveillance cameras in all detention facilities, 90% of KIN-11 remains without monitoring. This lack of oversight enables unchecked abuse by prison staff, often enforced through prisoner informants. Dauletmurat Tajimuratov has been placed in solitary confinement three times under deplorable conditions: no water, broken windows, and filthy mattresses. He also reports that unknown substances have been added to his food.
Dauletmurat Tajimuratov further describes KIN-11 as worse than the notorious Jaslyk prison, where security officers once brutalized inmates. In KIN-11, however, select prisoners – so-called “activists”- carry out the abuse on behalf of the administration. Reports identify individuals such as Isamurat Amanatov, Yan Belov, Dmitry Sovlokov, and others as key perpetrators of violent attacks against Dauletmurat Tajimuratov. His personal belongings, including his diary documenting prison abuses, have been confiscated.
Prison authorities are actively isolating Dauletmurat Tajimuratov by blocking his letters, denying him family visits, and ensuring his grievances go unanswered. He has faced further punishment for refusing to sing the Uzbek national anthem and failing to address officers as “respected chief.” He was recently placed in solitary confinement again, left in a freezing cell without clothing, a toothbrush, or proper meals. His requests to keep food for iftar (evening meal) during Ramadan were denied, and he was deprived of food for four days.
There are now credible threats that prison authorities plan to stage a violent attack to portray Dauletmurat Tajimuratov as mentally unstable. Reports suggest that fellow inmates have been instructed to strike his head with a metal object, to cause impaired mental brain function. Meanwhile, the administration continues to deceive his family by misrepresenting visitation rights.
Freedom for Eurasia demands immediate intervention by Uzbek authorities, independent monitoring of KIN-11, and accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses. We call on international human rights organizations to raise this case and pressure Uzbekistan to uphold its commitments to prisoner rights and dignity.
