Uzbekistan - Country of Concern update: 30 June 2014
Updated 21 January 2015
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There were some positive developments over the past three months, but we continue to have significant concerns about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan.
In April, after the publication of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) report on the 2013 cotton harvest, the ILO and the government of Uzbekistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a Decent Work Country Programme for 2014-2016. The objectives of this are to eliminate the “worst forms of child labour” outlawed by ILO conventions, and address the systemic use of forced labour during future cotton harvests. For the first time since 2010, Uzbekistan will not be called to appear before the ILO monitoring body that supervises the implementation of ratified ILO conventions.
In May, Amnesty International launched an anti-torture campaign that focuses on a number of countries, including Uzbekistan. Amnesty International stated that it “continues to receive persistent and credible allegations of routine and pervasive torture and other ill-treatment by security forces and prison personnel”. Amnesty’s campaign acknowledges that Uzbekistan has taken formal steps towards strengthening safeguards against torture, but observes that abuses continue as a result of failure to implement legislation or to prosecute perpetrators. The British Embassy has regularly raised with Uzbekistan the need to ensure that domestic legislation is compatible with the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT).
On 24 June, just before the UN Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the National Human Rights Centre of Uzbekistan hosted an international conference on Compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture. A number of international legal experts illustrated how other countries have implemented human rights instruments. The British Embassy arranged for a British legal expert to attend the conference and to inform discussions on the difference between Uzbekistan’s domestic law and CAT. The UK is also encouraging Uzbekistan’s efforts to create a National Preventive Mechanism.
On 14 May, the Uzbek authorities adopted revisions to existing legislation which appear to have the aim of preventing crime by strengthening the links between state and non-state bodies. The revisions come into force on 15 August. There are initial concerns that the legislation has the potential to be misused and as such could contravene international human rights treaties to which Uzbekistan is a party.
On 30 May, Abdurasul Hudojnazarov, a member of the Uzbek human rights organisation Ezgulik, was released from prison having been sentenced in 2005. Mr Hudojnazarov had been suffering from tuberculosis and passed away shortly after his release on June 26.
Between April and June, there continued to be allegations reported in internet media and by NGOs of actions by law enforcement authorities against individuals engaged in religious activities outside state-sanctioned structures.