Despite some limited and much publicized steps by the Uzbekistani authorities in recent years to address human rights concerns, monitoring carried out by International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) shows that serious concerns remain. In particular, civic freedoms are severely restricted; local human rights defenders, independent journalists and bloggers and others who voice criticism of the government continue to be at risk of imprisonment and other reprisals; the government continues to refute credible reports of torture and ill-treatment; domestic violence remains a matter of grave concern; consensual homosexual adult sex is an offence in Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code; and forced evictions supported by the authorities leave people in vulnerable situations for the benefit of private investors. In 2022, the events in the Republic of Karakalpakstan showed that excessive force remains a weapon the authorities use against protest and dissent.
Prior to the annual EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue, which took place in Brussels on 14 June 2023, IPHR and AHRCA prepared a summary of key concerns and recommendations on these issues.