( Geneva )- According to Human Rights Watch, the Uzbekistan government needs to take immediate action on recommendations made on November 8, 2023, during its fourth Universal Periodic Review ( UPR ) of its record on human rights at the UNHRC. The government should take special steps to protect the rights of people who defend human rights, including journalists, bloggers, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) people.
A number of UN member states even stated that Uzbekistan may hold the country accountable for any violations of human rights committed during demonstrations in Karakalpakstan, an independent part of Uzukiwan, in 2022.
According to Mihra Rittmann, a senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch,” The range and scope of fears and suggestions that governments expressed during Uzbekistan’s assessment shows just how much work we need to do to effectively enhance human rights problems in the country.” ” It’s crucial for Uzbekistan to follow all the advice rather than picking and choosing from the problems brought up.”
Every four and a half times, all UN member states take part in the UPR method, which involves conducting an exhaustive review of their respective human rights records. Written type can be given to the review process by the nation under review, regional, national, and international organizations, as well as the UN. In March, Human Rights Watch provided a lecture on Uzbekistan’s record of human rights.
Out of the 198 recommendations it received at its most recent evaluation, the Uzbekistan government asserted that it had entirely implemented 171. Countries praised Uzbekistan at the assessment, including for ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, making domestic violence illegal, and making strides toward ending forced labour in cotton areas since the organization’s previous review.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that Uzbekistan’s legal system has improved, nations from all over the world urged the country to take immediate action to end gender-based murder, uphold the rights of women and children, and to protect those who are disabled.
Over a hundred UN member states urged Uzbekistan to streamline the difficult registration process for civil society organizations in order to better protect the right of individual rights supporters and improve the environment for nonprofit organizations. The Uzbekistan group disregarded the censure during the review. Independent human rights groups ca n’t conduct their business in Uzbekistan because of the registration process, according to Human Rights Watch and other rights organizations.
In order to look into the human rights violations committed during the protests in Karakalpakstan in July 2022, which resulted in at least 21 fatalities and hundreds of injuries, Norway suggested that the Uzbekistan government appoint an “genuinely separate independent and efficient council.” Regarding the events in Karakalpakstan, Canada and the Czech Republic offered related suggestions. According to Human Rights Watch, the protests were put down by law enforcement using overwhelming force.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and EU member states other than the Czech Republic did never repeat their calls for Uzbekistan to conduct an independent research into the human rights violations committed during the Karakalpakstan activities, according to Human Rights Watch.
The Uzbekistan state was urged to criminalize sexual same-sex conduct and prevent subjecting detainees in prosecutions of queer men to compelled anal exams, an aggressive practice that constitutes violent, degrading, and inhumane treatment that can reach the level of torture and sexual assault under international human rights law, in comments on rights issues pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Except for the 15 advice pertaining to the rights of LGBT people, the Uzbekistan federal supported all of the recommendations made by the states. According to Human Rights Watch, the government official’s use of “generally accepted norms” to claim the rights of LGBT people absolves them of accountability for discriminatory state policies and laws that prevent them from exercising their fundamental human rights.
With a significant rise in the number of blogs and editors who have been prosecuted over the past two years, 14 nations have spoken out against the worrying state of press freedom in Uzbekistan, urging it to establish” healthy environments” for journalists, bloggers, and media workers and make sure they can “work free from coercion” both online and offline. Norway urged Uzbekistan to “immediately give clemency” to all journalists, blogs, and protesters who were being held in custody.
In order to end impunity, several nations also urged Uzbekistan to look into allegations of abuse and keep those responsible for torturing and various forms of wrongdoing. The Optional Protocol to the Protocol against Torture was recommended for Uzbekistan by numerous nations, including Brazil and the Islands.
It’s crucial for UN member states to follow up with the Uzbekistan state directly given how severe the human rights situation is there, Rittmann said. ” The operate starts now to make sure that Uzbekistan takes meaningful, actionable steps to improve the human rights of people, including LGBT people, in accordance with the UPR tips and international humanitarian rights law.”
