The European Union should put human rights at the center of its intensifying engagement with Central Asian countries at the inaugural EU-Central Asia summit on April 3 and 4, 2025 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch said today.
The EU is deepening bilateral agreements and connections to the countries in the region. Rights protections and the rule of law are essential to secure its interests in any partnership.
"It is good news that the EU is engaging at a high level with Central Asia, but to be effective, the talks need to address the very serious human rights concerns across the region" said Iskra Kirova, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Jailing critics and activists and restrictions on civil society and independent media are hardly conducive to the progress the EU is seeking."
The failure of Central Asian governments to uphold human rights, including freedoms of expression and assembly, has been at the core of instability in the region in recent years. This includes the violently suppressed unrest in Kazakhstan in January 2022 as well as the deadly crackdowns on protests in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast of Tajikistan in November 2021 and May 2022 and in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan in July 2022. There has been little or no accountability for police brutality in these protests.
Media freedom is another concern. Human Rights Watch has documented significant media restrictions across Central Asia, with tight government control and suppression of independent journalism.
Turkmenistan exerts total control over access to information, prohibits content deemed offensive to the government, blocks websites, including those of foreign news organizations and independent media, and limits internet access.
Kazakhstan's June 2024 mass media law requires online publications to register and set up a physical presence in the country and grants the government expansive powers to deny accreditation to foreign media representatives. Kazakhstan's courts have imprisoned independent journalists on dubious criminal charges. Duman Mukhammedkarim was sentenced to seven years in prison on August 2, 2024, on alleged "extremism" charges. On October 18, Daniyar Adilbekov was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly disseminating false information.
Uzbekistan has harassed and imprisoned bloggers and jailed others for "insulting the president online." Valijon Kalonov, a blogger and government critic, has been held in forced psychiatric detention since late December 2021. On January 31, 2023, the Karakalpak blogger and lawyer Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his alleged role in the July 2022 protests in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan. The authorities have ignored his allegations of ill-treatment and torture.
Kyrgyzstan's once vibrant media reached a new low in 2024. In January 2024, police arrested 11 journalists with the independent outlet Temirov Live on charges of "inciting mass unrest." In October 2024, a Bishkek court sentenced two to prison terms and put two on probation. Courts have also ordered the closure of an award-winning investigative outlet, Kloop Media, alleging it failed to register as a media outlet and made "public calls for the violent seizure of power." In January 2025, Kyrgyz authorities also recriminalized libel and insult on the internet and media.
Tajikistan has targeted journalists reporting on the crackdown in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, with seven journalists currently behind bars, including Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, who was sentenced to 21 years. In February 2025, the Tajik Supreme Court sentenced another journalist, Ruhshona Khakimova, to 8 years following a closed trial on classified charges.
Central Asian countries have also enacted restrictive legislation targeting nongovernmental organizations and have targeted independent activists for simply exercising their freedom of expression or association.
In Kyrgyzstan, a 2024 law requires foreign-funded groups to register as "foreign representatives" and submit to enhanced government oversight. The legislation mirrors Russia's foreign agents law and has had a stifling effect on civil society, with many organizations self-liquidating or ceasing activities.
Turkmenistan has virtually no independent civil society. The state continues to groundlessly and arbitrarily bar actual and perceived critics and activists and their relatives from foreign travel. Since January 2024, authorities arbitrarily barred at least three activists from traveling abroad, Soltan Achilova, Nurgeldy Khalykov, and Pygambergeldy Allaberdyev. Turkmenistan routinely represses dissidents abroad and their families inside the country.
The authorities refuse to renew or reissue passports through consulates abroad, requiring citizens to return to Turkmenistan, where they risk arrest and persecution. This requirement violates the right to freedom of movement and is a hallmark of transnational repression.
Uzbekistan has targeted independent rights activists with unfounded criminal charges and denies registration to independent rights groups. On July 18, 2024, a Kashkadarya court sentenced the activists Dildora Khakimova and Nargiza Keldiyorova to more than six years in prison on dubious extortion charges after they criticized corruption in the education system in Kashkadarya.
Kazakhstan uses vaguely-worded extremism laws to target activists with lengthy prison sentences. On November 30, 2023, the head of the unregistered opposition party Alga, Kazakhstan! (Forward, Kazakhstan!), Marat Zhylanbaev, was sentenced to 7 years on unfounded extremism charges. Legislators are also considering foreign-agent style legislation.
In February 2025, Tajikistan's Supreme Court found a number of prominent figures, human rights lawyers, and politicians guilty of high treason, with sentences of between 18 and 27 years in prison. A human rights lawyer, Manuchekhr Kholiqnazarov, was sentenced to 16 years for his alleged role in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region protests.
The EU should urge Central Asian governments to release rights defenders and journalists imprisoned for their legitimate activities and to repeal repressive legislation, Human Rights Watch said.
The EU's new generation of Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreements being negotiated with Central Asian countries set clear expectations, in addition to offering trade and investment opportunities. Mutual respect and cooperation to protect human rights and the rule of law is an "essential element" of the agreement. The EU should use these agreements to seek and achieve specific advances for human rights, Human Rights Watch said.
The EU also offers preferential market access to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in exchange for implementing international conventions on labor and human rights, environmental protection, and good governance. Yet, Human Rights Watch reporting and the European Commission's own assessment show both countries to be in serious violation of most core international human rights treaties. EU leaders should demand that partners fulfil their human rights obligations or lose trade benefits.
"The first EU-Central Asia summit is an important milestone," Kirova said. "The EU should use this moment to shape a well-rounded and sustainable partnership with Central Asian states that requires human rights to be a central part of the agenda."
