On the occasion of the EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue taking place today, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) issue a briefing highlighting key human rights concerns and case examples in Uzbekistan.
The document focuses on violations of freedoms of association and expression; the rights of gay and bisexual persons; torture and ill-treatment, domestic violence and forced evictions.
We urge the European Union to particularly emphasize in their dialogue with the Uzbekistani delegation the barriers to NGO registration in a context where independent civil society organizations are facing an uphill struggle to get their groups registered – and the need for decriminalisation of homosexuality given that the window of opportunity to provided by the drafting of the new Criminal Code is closing fast.
In addition, we urge the EU to raise the individual cases of bloggers Miraziz Bazarov and Otabek Sattoriy, politician Makhmud Davronov, torture victim Aleksander Trofimov, former diplomat Kadyr Yusupov, and the eviction case of Dilorom and Shakhnoza Rozikova and their four children. The briefing concludes with suggested recommendations to the authorities of Uzbekistan.
Read the briefing paper here.