Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is a Human Rights Priority Country for the FCO. The section on Uzbekistan in:“Human Rights and Democracy: The 2015 Foreign and Commonwealth Report” details our concerns.

Last month the Uzbek authorities signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations on implementing Uzbekistan’s National Human Rights Action Plan. We welcome this and also the interim President’s decree of 21 October, which includes measures to strengthen the independence of the judiciary, strengthen the rights of the accused, and reduce periods of detention without trial.

We continue to raise individual human rights cases with the Uzbek authorities, play an active and visible part in human rights activities in , Uzbekistan, and fund projects on governance reform, anti-corruption, torture prevention and strengthening women’s rights.