Human Rights and Democracy Report 2015 - Uzbekistan

In 2015, we continued to have significant concerns about the overall human rights situation in Uzbekistan. In July, the UN Human Rights Committee considered Uzbekistan's 4th Periodic Report on its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The committee found that Uzbekistan had not taken sufficient steps to address outstanding concerns since it underwent its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2013. These included the lack of freedom of expression, poor criminal justice procedures, and the use of torture against detainees.

Violations continued to be reported in 2015 by human rights organisations, and a number of human rights defenders were reportedly detained or harassed by the authorities. In March, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) observed Uzbekistan's Presidential election. It concluded that voters were not able to make informed choices given that freedom of expression and association remain curtailed. Restrictions on the activity of NGOs further reduced space for constructive and open discussions on addressing human rights problems.

However, some progress has been made, such as on child and forced labour. The World Bank published a report in November on the 2015 cotton harvest. The report concluded that the Uzbek authorities had taken measures towards eliminating child labour, and that it was now socially unacceptable and rare. The report also concluded that, whilst the risk of forced labour remained, the Uzbek government had agreed to address this as part of its co-operation with the World Bank and International Labour Organisation.

Further progress was seen in the implementation of 2013/14 legislative changes aimed at improving communication between civil society and government bodies. The FCO's Human Rights and Democracy Programme continued to fund a project implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Uzbekistan's Academy of Public Administration. It helped to reform public administration by improving public access to information through e-governance portals and by establishing 200 public information centres across pilot regions. However, despite our sustained focus on ensuring full implementation of the Convention against Torture, we saw no substantive progress in 2015, and the Uzbek authorities refused permission for an FCO-funded project on torture prevention.

Our key human rights objective in 2015 was to encourage further implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) which was drafted to take forward 121 recommendations following Uzbekistan's UPR in 2013. We see the NAP as the most practical vehicle for addressing a range of human rights challenges in Uzbekistan. It was formally adopted by the Uzbek government in early 2015, but agreement has not yet been reached between the government and UNDP on building a monitoring and evaluation mechanism into the plan.

In 2016 we will continue to encourage progress on this and frame our human rights advocacy around the NAP, ahead of Uzbekistan's next UPR, in 2017.