growth. Karakalpak activists have been targeted by Uzbek security services in order to silence dissent, including dissent from the Karakalpak diaspora, which has led to more intense out-migration of Karakalpaks from Karakalpakstan. Uzbekistan authorities continue to arbitrarily detain Karakalpak activists stemming from the 7 June 2022 protests, such as the prominent lawyer and community leader Dauletmurat Tajimuratov. Abroad, Uzbekistan maintains close ties with the security services in Kazakhstan, often collaborating with their neighbor state to harass and/or silence outspoken members of the Karakalpak diaspora there, forcing Karakalpaks to seek safety further abroad. All of these policies have led to the weakening of social and economic dynamism among the Karakalpak people, which we believe is part of a pattern of structural genocide coordinated and supported by the central government authorities, who are pursuing a monoethnic nation-building project. In this context of state repression, the Lemkin Institute hopes that international actors can place pressure on the government of Uzbekistan to: ● Adhere to the Constitution with reference to the sovereignty of the “Republic of Karakalpakstan” and the rights guaranteed therein; ● Allow for the self-determination of the Karakalpak people as held in the Constitution and enshrined in the UN Charter, while including ethnic Karakalpak officials in all decision making pertaining to Karakalpakstan; ● Affirm the rights of all minority populations in Uzbekistan, with the Karakalpak and Roma people being of principle concern, protecting the cultures, languages, and human rights of minority populations; ● Expand economic opportunities in Karakalpakstan by investing in modernized infrastructure, creating the conditions for domestic and international investment, and ensuring that the benefits of development are shared with the local economy – this must include robust and engaged attention paid to the ecological and economic disaster that is the retreat of the Aral Sea.