Corporate report

Uzbekistan - Country of concern: latest update, 30 September 2014

Updated 21 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

0.1 Latest Update: 30 September 2014

Despite some positive developments over the past three months, we continue to have significant concerns about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan.

Observation of the cotton harvest in 2012 and 2013 indicated that there had been no mass mobilisation of children under 16. Initial indications from the first weeks of the 2014 harvest suggest that efforts have been made to prevent systematic mobilisation of under-18s. We welcome these efforts. Although large-scale mobilisation of adults appears to have continued, work is continuing to implement the Decent Work Country Programme for 2014-2016. This was agreed with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in April, whose goals include full implementation of ILO Convention 105 on forced labour.

In July, as part of its anti-torture campaign, Amnesty International made a public appeal calling for the release of Murad Juraev, a former member of the Supreme Council of Uzbekistan, who has been in prison since 1995. His original twelve-year sentence has been extended four times, most recently in December 2012. As mentioned in the 2013 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report, we have raised his case with the authorities both bilaterally and through the EU. There are continuing reports of mistreatment or torture in detention and of Mr Juraev’s ill health.

The British Embassy continues its work to support Uzbekistan’s National Human Rights Centre and Ombudsman in preventing torture through the creation of a National Preventive Mechanism, and by ensuring that domestic legislation is compatible with the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT).

There are continuing concerns over the use of Article 221 of the Uzbek Criminal Code, which allows for prison sentences to be extended if prison rules are violated. In August, it was reported that journalist Yusuf Ruzimurodov and human rights activist Bobomurod Razzokov have had their sentences extended. Both are understood to be in poor health.

In August, Uzbekistan’s Senate approved revisions to a number of laws including the “law on informatisation” which obliges bloggers to report only verified and truthful information. On 8 September, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, stated that these amendments contravene international standards on freedom of expression. OSCE also called on the Uzbek authorities to release imprisoned journalists Solijon Abdurakhmanov, Dilmurod Saiid and Hairullo Khamidov.

Between July and September, there continued to be allegations in internet media, and by NGOs, of actions by law enforcement authorities against individuals engaged in religious activities outside state-sanctioned structures.

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