New York 26 March 2010 - The UN Human Rights Committee examined the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Uzbekistan during its 98th Session (8-26 March 2010).
On this occasion several Uzbek NGOs submitted alternative reports highlighting the State's failure to implement the provisions of the ICCPR. Amongst other issues, NGOs documented many cases of torture and ill-treatment, raised concerned about the judicial system and denounced harassment and attacks against human rights defenders, who are working in extremely difficult situation.
Today, the Human Rights Committee released its conclusions and recommendations on assessing the implementation of the ICCPR. The UN body remained concerned by the human rights record in Uzbekistan, considering that almost no progress was made since the previous examination in March 2005.
The Human Rights Committee strongly regrets the absence of independent investigation after the Andijan events of 2005 where several hundreds of civilians were killed by the military and security services. The lack of investigation is a clear breach of the obligation of Uzbekistan under articles 6 and 7 of ICCPR. Moreover, UN Experts echoed NGO’s information about the “continued reported occurrence of torture and ill-treatment” in Uzbekistan, considering that the lack of investigation and criminal prosecution is of serious concerns.
The UN Body also expressed its disturbance with regard to the attacks, assault, harassment or intimidation against NGOs, journalists and human rights defenders, requesting from the Government to “take immediate action to provide effective protection” and to “ensure the prompt, effective, and impartial investigation of threats, harassment, and assaults on journalists and human rights defenders and, when appropriate, prosecute and institute proceedings against the perpetrators of such acts”.
“It is clear the Human Rights Committee is extremely concerned by the situation, said Patrick Mutzenberg from the Centre for Civil and Political Rights; the strong wording of the recommendations and the request for the next periodic report no later than March 2013 reflect not only the absence of cooperation from Uzbekistan but also grave breaches in the implementation of the ICCPR”. In the meantime, Uzbek Government has to provide follow-up information on the measures taken to implement these recommendations, by March 2011.
Contact: Patrick Mutzenberg - CCPR ( Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir. )
Background information:
Human Rights Committee's Concluding Observations available here
NGO Reports available online
