Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Briefing

Via Serica Brings Karakalpakstan's Human Rights Crisis Before U.S. Congress

Washington, D.C. | July 22, 2026

Via Serica presented testimony at a briefing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress on the human rights crisis facing the Karakalpak people. The briefing, centered on Central Asia: Political Prisoners and Ongoing Human Rights Abuses, was hosted by Commission Co-Chairs Rep. James P. McGovern and Rep. Chris Smith. Via Serica President Gulya Nur joined a panel that included Serikzhan Bilash of Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights, Kate Watters of Crude Accountability, and Professor Steve Swerdlow of the University of Southern California. In the briefing, Via Serica focused on the deteriorating human rights situation across Karakalpakstan, in the larger context of the panel’s focus on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Specifically, Via Serica highlighted Karakalpakstan's constitutionally recognized status as a sovereign republic within Uzbekistan, its own Constitution and parliament, and its constitutional right to secede from Uzbekistan on the basis of a nationwide referendum of the people of Karakalpakstan. Via Serica also drew attention to the 1993 interstate agreement between Karakalpakstan and Uzbekistan, which was concluded for a 20-year term that ended in 2013. Proposed constitutional amendments in 2022 threatened to remove Karakalpakstan's constitutionally recognized sovereign status and right to a referendum. In July 2022, security forces used lethal force during largely peaceful protests in Nukus against the proposed constitutional changes. Nearly four years later, there has still been no complete, independently verified public accounting of those killed, injured, detained and subjected to abuse. The imprisonment of Karakalpak lawyer, journalist, and human rights defender Dauletmurat Tajimuratov was another central focus. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined in Opinion No. 62/2024 that Tajimuratov's detention is arbitrary and called for his immediate release. Uzbekistan has not implemented the opinion. Via Serica also raised concerns about deaths of Karakalpak prisoners in custody, prosecutions connected to online expression, restrictions on freedom of expression, and the political and socioeconomic marginalization of Karakalpaks. Via Serica concluded its testimony with seven concrete recommendations for Congressional action, including calling for the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners such as Tajimuratov and establishing measurable human rights benchmarks in U.S. engagement with Uzbekistan. Read Via Serica’s written remarks to the commission: https://humanrightscommission.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/humanrightscommission.house.gov/ files/evo-media-document/gulya-nur-remarks.pdf View the full briefing page and video: https://humanrightscommission.house.gov/events/hearings/central-asia-political-prisoners-and-o ngoing-human-rights-abuses

Via Serica believes in protecting the rights of victims, many of whom have been silenced. Via Serica will continue bringing the voices and testimony of Karakalpak victims, political prisoners, and their families before Congress, the United Nations and other international institutions, while pressing for accountability and meaningful international scrutiny. As Via Serica President Gulya Nur stated in her remarks to the Commission:, “History will not judge governments by the treaties they signed and the promises they broke. It will judge democracies by the people they chose not to abandon.”