Akzam Turgunov is an Uzbek human rights activist and political opposition leader who after suffering mistreatment at the hands of police has been wrongly detained in Uzbekistan since 2007. Mr. Turgunov was a leading figure in the human rights and opposition movements in Uzbekistan.

He founded and served as Chairman of Mazlum ("The Oppressed"), a human rights organization in Tashkent that advocates on behalf of prisoners of conscience and protests against the use of torture. He also served as Director of the Tashkent section of Erk ("Freedom") political opposition party.

Prior to his most recent detention, Mr. Turgunov was working full-time as an activist and public advocate in the purportedly self-autonomous region of Karakalpakstan.  During this time, he worked closely with Human Rights Watch, which observed and documented a negative government reaction to his efforts. His grant-funded work as a lay (non-lawyer) public defender in the region focused on investigating corruption by local officials, including a case involving police in the town of Manget. 

Mr. Turgunov was arrested on extortion charges in Manget on July 11, 2007, by the very police department he had been investigating for corruption. In consideration of the circumstances of his arrest and treatment and deficiencies in due process, including a lack of evidence, the charges appear fabricated to conceal a political motive for imprisonment. Indeed, in recent year, Human Rights Watch and local Uzbek organizations have noted a trend in arrests of human rights and opposition activists on charges like bribery, extortion, and tax evasion. 

Mr. Turgunov has been the victim of politically-motivated arrest before. After attempting to organize a neighborhood committee to explore private sector alternatives to government services, he was arrested and convicted in 1998 on charges of abuse of office and official negligence, after a prosecution characterized by Human Rights Watch as politically motivated. In 2000, he was granted amnesty and release, though he and his family reportedly continued to be subject to intimidation and harassment. 

Following his arrest in 2007, Uzbek officials searched Mr. Turgunov's home in Tashkent, where they seized political materials. He was held incommunicado for 18 days, during which time an officer reportedly poured boiling water down his back causing him to lose consciousness and suffer severe burns.  Though Mr. Turgunov revealed his burn marks in open court, the judge accepted as satisfactory statements made by police they had not tortured him. During his trial, Mr. Turgunov and his attorney were denied an opportunity to examine the evidence against him or cross-examine the government's witness against him. 

Despite these procedural deficiencies, on October 10, 2008, the court sentenced Mr. Turgunov to 10 years imprisonment. His sentence was affirmed by the Board of Appeals of the Karakalpakstan Supreme Court on December 11, 2008, after a fifteen-minute hearing. 

Mr. Turgunov is currently detained at a work camp in Karshi, near the administrative center of the Karshinskoy region. At the camp, he is forced to work at least twelve hours every day in a factory making bricks. As a result of the detention, the 56-year-old weighs 88 pounds (40 kilograms) and is in poor health. Prison officials have reportedly ignored complaints about his health and denied him access to medical care. Mr. Turgunov is married and a father of one son. 

Many organizations and governments have called for his immediate and unconditional release including the United States, European Union, International Federal for Human Rights, Frontline Defenders, and Human Rights Watch.

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