Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent events in Karakalpakstan; what discussions they have had with the government of Uzbekistan (1) regarding those events, and (2) to seek a peaceful resolution.

I [Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon] was saddened by the loss of life that occurred during recent events in the Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan. I understand that initially peaceful protests against plans to change Karakalpakstan's autonomous status within Uzbekistan, developed into violent unrest with casualties among civilians and law enforcement. The situation now seems calm. We have taken note of the creation of an Independent Commission under the Parliamentary Ombudsman to investigate these events.

On 7 July, I raised the unrest in Karakalpakstan with the Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister and our Ambassador and his team in Tashkent are also in contact with the Uzbek authorities. We have been clear in our communications that the right to peaceful protest and respect for media freedom should be protected. In discussion of these events in multilateral fora, we urged the Uzbek authorities to adhere to their international commitments in their response, and that due process be followed as the authorities seek to understand what happened. We will continue to monitor developments closely.