The United States and European Union in recent years have deemphasized human rights issues and the rule of law in Central Asia. But that does not mean the issues have fallen completely off the radar on Capitol Hill.

A recent hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission sought to assess the current state of human rights in Central Asia, as well as consider ways to reassert the issue in diplomatic discourse.

A commission co-chair, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), set the tone for the hearing, citing the Trump administration’s expanding economic ties with Central Asian governments, while stating that “today, we will ask how human rights are a part of that engagement.”

Witnesses asserted that the region continues to experience a significant erosion of individual liberties, including freedom of speech and assembly. Governments are also tightening their control over the flow of information.

Kate Watters, executive director of the environmental and human rights organization Crude Accountability, said that US and EU diplomatic approaches have undergone a “whole paradigm shift,” in which economic dealmaking, especially in the critical minerals sector, has eclipsed concerns about human rights.

Steve Swerdlow, a researcher at the University of Southern California and former Central Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), stated that regional governments “have long been authoritarian,” adding that “a lack of pressure from Washington has allowed for a new culture of impunity to develop.”

In recent years, Central Asian governments have adopted legislation enabling increased scrutiny of civil society organizations and their funding sources, making it harder for activists to operate, Watters noted.

Swedlow said independent journalism and watchdog activism were at critical risk in the region, contending that it was “open season on journalists and human rights defenders.”

Restrictions of freedoms also have extended to national minorities, speakers said, pointing to Uzbekistan’s 2022 crackdown on nationalist agitation in the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan. Watters accused Uzbek authorities of pursuing a campaign of “cultural erasure” in the region. Karakalpak activist Gulya Nur told Lantos Commission members that “it is unclear if human rights even matter at the State Department.”

An HRW statement published in 2024 noted that no Uzbek government officials had been held accountable for the use of lethal force against unarmed Karakalpak protesters, leaving at least 21 dead, including four law enforcement officers. A campaign of repression against nationalist activists was continuing, the statement added.

Meanwhile, Serikzhan Bilash, an exiled Kazakh rights activist, called attention to the persecution of watchdogs in Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Central Asia who seek to draw attention to the “forever crackdown” on Muslim minority groups, including Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs, in China’s neighboring Xinjiang Province. Regional governments are trying to keep a lid on watchdog activities so as not to draw Beijing’s ire.

Panelists put forward several recommendations to adjust US government policy, including pushing for independent investigations of instances of suspected abuse committed against activists, journalists and national minorities. Some wanted US officials to more vigorously apply the Magnitsky Act, which prescribes the sanctioning of officials who are determined to be involved in human rights abuses.

Swerdlow additionally suggested that the Trump administration could do more to push for the release of those considered political prisoners, claiming that the president has registered some success in securing the release of such detainees.

Trump administration officials show no willingness to alter their current stance on rights issues in Central Asia. The panelists, however, argued that returning rights concerns to a higher position on the diplomatic agenda could benefit efforts to expand trade and investment with Central Asian states: they contend that stronger pressure on human rights – along with greater concern about rule of law and good governance overall – can reassure wary foreign investors that are needed to advance the US economic priority of widening access to Central Asia’s mineral resources.