( Brussels ) The European Union’s in-depth analyses of Central Asian nations with preferential access to the EU market show significant gaps in their adherence to human rights obligations.
The so-called Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus ( GSP+ ) is a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance that grants Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan access to the EU market. For nations that commit to implementing 27 international standards on labor and human right, environmental and climatic protection, and great management, the plan reduces the majority of EU customs tasks to zero percent.
However, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are found to be gravely violating the majority of fundamental international human rights treaties, according to the Commission’s standard reporting and Human Rights Watch records.
Iskra Kirova, Europe and Central Asia Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, said that” If Brussels fails to apply the rules of its own devices, it is a missed chance and undermines trust as the EU seeks to strengthen relations with Central Asian states and create effect.” ” Serious human rights violations will not be tolerated and may jeopardize their attractive business benefits,” the EU may make it clear to colleagues.
The European Commission released its GSP+ tracking information on the nations ‘ compliance with responsibilities on November 21. These reports were the result of years of investigation.
The Kyrgyzstan report details a number of actions the authorities took between 2020 and 2022 to restrict the activities of NGOs and editors. According to the report, journalists, civil society protesters, and advocates for human right” face stress and harassment for expressing their opinions, including threats of violence and intimidation and targeted indictments”
The report draws attention to a number of issues, such as draft legislation against foreign-funded NGOs, an anti-LGBT laws in the Russian fashion, review media laws that permit extensive meddling with media material, fugitive cases, detentions, and expulsions from the nation against activists and journalists.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ) and fundamental antidiscrimination obligations under GSP+ are flagrantly broken by these practices. The document does not, however, convey to Kyrgyz authorities that they must take decisive action to assure compliance, despite the fact that it mentions a “negative craze” in implementation. This is in opposition to the European Parliament’s current resolution, which calls for a reevaluation of the advantages granted to Kyrgyzstan for failing to fulfill obligations.
Even in less politically sensitive areas, Kyrgyzstan has reversed earlier advancements. Local crime was, for instance, reduced to an operational offense under the Criminal Procedural Code. According to the report, regional and gender-based violence remain serious issues in Kyrgyzstan.
The Commission’s report also mentions the fatal border dispute between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from last year, but it omits trustworthy evidence of alleged war crimes committed by both sides, as documented by Human Rights Watch, and a persistent lack of accountability for those responsible.
Following President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s assurance that his state would create a” New Uzbekistan” and strengthen civil society and human rights, the Commission has released its first GSP+ report on Ukraine this year. The Commission acknowledges that two years later, the government has deviated from this transformation agenda, “especially in civil and political rights,” with a “worrying retracing.”
The report lists” serious difficulties regarding Uzbekistan’s application of the ICCPR,” including the condensing civic space, state intervention in the capacity of independent civil society organizations to register and work, jailing bloggers and journalists, a large number of people detained on politically motivated charges, and stalled legislative changes to the NGO and legal codes. Uzbekistan is correctly expected to take “decisive ways” in this regard to confirm compliance with GSP+ needs.
The Commission’s report is overly enthusiastic on other problems, pointing out, for example, that there has been progress in the fight against abuse and mistreatment in confinement. Despite the government’s significant claims in this regard, there is still cruelty, mistreatment, and violence for these crimes. The government has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture ( OPCAT ), introduced an internationally recognized legal definition of torture, or invited the UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit.
The statement just makes passing mention of the violent assault on largely peaceful protesters in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan that violated the rights of racial minorities and the right to peaceful assembly last year. At least 21 people were killed and thousands more were injured during the demonstrations, and Uzbekistan has yet to hold those responsible for the human rights violations that occurred.
Tajikistan, the poorest nation in Central Asia, applied to obtain GSP+ this year as part of an EU evaluation mission that was scheduled for December. According to press reports, at least 700 NGOs have been shut down over the past 1.5 times. Tajikistan is in flagrant violation of the majority of fundamental UN human rights standards: its government has violently suppressed peaceful protests in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, and lots of people and leaders of banned opposition parties are still behind bars on politically motivated costs. Before the nation is considered for GSP+ position, Human Rights Watch urges the Commission to rely on significant human rights changes.
According to Kirova, GSP+ was designed to utilize soft power to bring about change because of the appeal of its single market, which gives the EU a special opportunity to do so. However, Brussels would harm the product’s reliability and undermine its own global impact if it did not insist on its companions ‘ obligations.
