Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether human rights issues in Kyrgyzstan have been examined within the framework of the Developing Countries Trade Scheme.

The UK Government reserves the right to suspend preferences on particular goods, or to suspend a country from the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) if it finds that they have seriously and systemically breached international conventions in relation to human rights.

When considering suspensions, the UK may assess, among other things, the impact on the beneficiary country's economic and development prospects, the impact on the country's most vulnerable people and the effectiveness of a suspension in bringing about change.

The UK continues to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations, and hold all those who violate or abuse human rights to account. Our Embassy in Bishkek actively monitors the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan and ministers have raised concerns regarding human rights and media freedom with the Kyrgyz Government.