Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-06-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether concerns about the use of torture have been raised in Uzbekistan under the European Union Human Rights Dialogue; and if so, when.

Baroness Warsi

Concerns about torture were raised in the last EU-Uzbekistan human rights dialogue which took place in November 2013. Specifically, concerns were raised about reports of torture of detainees and there was discussion focussed on encouraging progress towards establishing a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) on torture.

The UK has significant concerns about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, as reflected in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s annual human rights report. Torture is one of the issues which we continue to raise both in multilateral contexts such as the EU Human Rights Dialogue and through our bilateral contacts with the Government of Uzbekistan. I had wide ranging discussions, including on human rights, during my recent visit to Uzbekistan in April, and more recently during a meeting in London with the Uzbek Ambassador here.

In a bilateral context, our Embassy in Tashkent funds a range of projects in support of good governance, human rights and the development of civil society. In relation to torture prevention, we have promoted British experience of criminal justice reform and have shared UK expertise to support the development of Uzbekistan’s NPM against torture. Our Embassy also contributes to discussions between the Uzbek authorities and its international partners to encourage criminal justice reform.