Karakalpakstan remains in an "information vacuum," residents say, as the situation has begun to stabilize following deadly protests last week over the Uzbek government’s plan to hold a vote on the region's autonomous status.
"We are left with no access to information," a 33-year-old man told RFE/RL, speaking by phone from the remote region’s capital, Nukus.
"People are afraid -- neighborhood committee heads are going to door to door and warning people: 'Don't take to take to the streets or we won’t be responsible if you're detained,'" the man said on condition of anonymity.
Authorities said on July 6 that the Internet had been "temporarily" restricted in Karakalpakstan to prevent the spread of fake news "aimed at inciting separatism" and "destabilizing" the country.
The government says 18 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces on July 1-2. But a local health official and several residents told RFE/RL they believe the death toll is much higher.
Soldiers guard a road during a government-organized press visit in Nukus on July 6, 2022.
The protests mark the worst violence in the authoritarian Central Asian country since anti-government protests in the eastern city of Andijon in 2005, when hundreds of people were killed.
The government said normalcy has returned to Karakalpakstan, where "grocery stores, bazaars, bakeries, banks, hospitals, and other social facilities" have reopened.
The Interior Ministry said mobile-phone connections "are fully operational," but it didn’t say when Internet access will be restored.
Uzbek media reported earlier in the week that ATMs didn't work, and many government services were also unavailable in Karakalpakstan, a massive region that makes up western Uzbekistan.
A senior official at Karakalpakstan's Interior Ministry said it's possible that a month-long state of emergency imposed on July 2 could be lifted earlier than planned.
"Now the situation in Nukus is calm. It's been said in a [government] meeting that if the situation stays this way, authorities will end the curfew ahead of schedule," the official told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.
WATCH: Calls For International Inquiry After Deadly Crackdown In Uzbekistan
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Calls For International Inquiry After Deadly Crackdown In Uzbekistan
Several residents who spoke to RFE/RL confirmed that the situation has calmed down in the region. But they said there are still numerous security checkpoints in Nukus and other cities, including the town of Shymbai, where the protests began.
Soldiers and police still patrol the streets, while armored personnel carriers can be seen in cities, they said.
One Nukus resident said there were "checkpoints installed everywhere on the border" between Karakalpakstan and neighboring provinces.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said trade has been suspended between Karakalpakstan and neighboring Khorezm Province, cutting many people off from a key supply route.
"People in the remote districts of Amudarya and Ellikqala depend on the products and goods delivered from Khorezm Province, but it’s been shut down," he said.
'Many Women Among Wounded'
Unrest in Karakalpakstan broke out after Tashkent unveiled a package of constitutional amendments that included a proposal to effectively scrap the region's right to seek independence should citizens choose to do so in a referendum.
Trucks burnt during protests in Nukus on July 6.
But the government later scrapped the plan in an attempt to appease demonstrators in Karakalpakstan, a mainly desert region of nearly 2 million people.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev blamed unspecified foreign forces of instigating the violence to stir interethnic conflict in the country.
Authorities said on July 4 that 516 people were detained following the protests but many had been released, while others were sentenced to 15 days in detention.
But there have been alarming claims that some of the detainees -- alleged organizers of the protests -- were taken to detention centers in the Khorezm and Bukhara provinces.
Prosecutors said they were launching criminal probes on several charges, including attempts to seize power.
An Uzbek soldier guards a street in Nukus, capital of the northwestern Karakalpakstan region, on July 3.
Some activists also said members of the Karakalpak diaspora in neighboring Kazakhstan have been interrogated by representatives of the Uzbek police.
Hamidjon Dadabaev, deputy commander of the National Guard, told reporters on July 6 that there were foreign citizens among those arrested. But he didn’t provide further details, saying "it will be revealed later."
The families of the victims have been burying their dead while dozens of the wounded remain in hospitals, some in serious condition.
A health official in Nukus told RFE/RL that "there were many women" among the wounded. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the exact number of dead has yet to be determined. "But it's definitely more than 18," he said.
The United Nations and the United States have called for a transparent and independent investigation into the violence.