Uzbek opposition and rights activists asked the United Nations and the European Union on Tuesday to help stop the government's crackdown on dissent, saying dozens of people have been illegally arrested or beaten since a May 13 uprising. "We ask your help in stopping illegal detentions and persecution of rights defenders, opposition parties and other politically active citizens of Uzbekistan," 10 activists said in a statement, which was also addressed to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The alleged repression follows an uprising in the eastern city of Andijan, when militants seized a local prison and government headquarters and thousands of people demonstrated in the streets. Uzbek authorities say 173 people died, but rights advocates put the number as high as 750. One of the activists, Surat Ikramov, head of Uzbekistan's Initiative Group of Human Rights Defenders, told The Associated Press law enforcement authorities have since unleashed a mass persecution of dissenters, with more than 100 people detained, beaten or placed under house arrest.