Uzbekistan’s state prosecutor said on Monday that 18 people died during unrest in the autonomous Karakalpakstan region after protests erupted over planned constitutional changes affecting the territory’s status last week.
“In [the administrative centre] Nukus, 18 people died as a result of serious injuries received during massive disorders,” Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted Abror Mamatov, an official from the state prosecutor’s office, as saying.
Mamatov was speaking at a briefing where a representative of the National Guard said that 243 people were injured during the unrest, 94 of whom were hospitalized.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has since walked back draft constitutional amendments that would have removed the republic’s constitutionally ingrained right to self-determination.
On Sunday, Mirziyoyev made his second visit to Karakalpakstan in two days. He accused protest organizers of “hiding behind false slogans” and trying to “seize the buildings of local government bodies.”
Uzbekistan’s parliament has voted to extend a period of public discussion on the draft constitutional law for another 10 days – until July 15, lawmaker Bobur Bekmurodov wrote on Twitter on Monday. The autonomous republic’s constitutional right to break away from Uzbekistan is a legacy of an agreement struck between Karakalpakstan and the central government in Tashkent after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
One amendment set to remain in the draft document will allow presidents to run for seven-year terms, directly benefitting Mirziyoyev, who crushed token opponents to secure a second five-year term in October 2021.
Mirziyoyev Saturday noted that the constitutional reform is an issue of utmost importance for today’s and tomorrow’s life of the country.
“In short, this process will take as long as it takes to improve the updated Constitution. In that pursuit, we will act only in consultation with our people,” the President said.
A voter casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 24, 2021. Uzbekistan held a presidential election on Sunday, with incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev running for a second term in office. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)
