Uzbekistan: Religious Freedom

(asked on 24th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Uzbekistan.


Answered by
Wendy Morton Portrait
Wendy Morton
This question was answered on 13th April 2021

The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. The UK and Uzbekistan have an open dialogue on a wide-range of human rights issues. The UK's Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, recently undertook a virtual visit to the country, and held a follow up meeting with the Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister, which included discussions on protection of fundamental freedoms. Following lobbying from our Ambassador to Uzbekistan, alongside other diplomatic missions in Tashkent, the Uzbek authorities submitted a draft law on freedom of conscience and religious organisations to the Venice Commission and we urge Uzbekistan to consider the Commission's response to the draft. Our Ambassador also recently met with local religious groups and listened to concerns regarding registration of religious organisations. We will continue to raise issues related to freedom of religion or belief with the Uzbek authorities.

The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all in a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce represents the UK at meetings of the Alliance who work to advocate for the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted on the basis of their faith or belief.

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