On the eve of the official visit by the President of Uzbekistan to the United States, representatives of the Uzbek delegation, journalists and American experts discussed the situation with human rights and freedoms in our country.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to the USA Javlon Vahabov said that there are currently major changes underway in Uzbekistan, transformation across all areas, particularly in the field of human rights, good governance and the rule of law.
The diplomat pointed to significant progress in securing human rights in Uzbekistan. “First, the Uzbek parliament recently adopted a roadmap to provide for freedom of religion, review legislation on the freedom of religion and simplify the registration of religious organizations. Registration of smaller religious denominations will be greatly simplified,” Vahabov said, announcing the impending visit to Uzbekistan of US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.
“Human rights is an immense and intricate road, and we are now at the foundation of this long journey,” the Ambassador continued. “But I believe that in the near future, Uzbekistan will improve its position in the list of countries of particular concern, where the nation has been since 2006.”
The Uzbek envoy to the United States listed the steps in eradicating forced labor in Uzbekistan. In particular, he noted that the International Labor Organization and the World Bank confirmed that the systematic use of child labor has been rooted out in the country. “Despite this, the US Department of Labor still refuses to recognize any progress in this direction, and we hope that this injustice will be corrected,” Vahabov added.
He also pointed out that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed the government to consider every case of forced labor as an emergency.
The Ambassador said that representatives of the international coalition of labor and human rights organizations, investors and business associations of the Cotton Campaign are visiting Uzbekistan for the first time at the invitation of the government. “Some experts of the Cotton Campaign are participating in our discussion today, and I hope that during the trip to Uzbekistan all parties will agree on a corresponding joint roadmap for solving this problem, and that the will be removed from the list of boycotted countries,” he suggested.
The diplomat also called on the American partners to improve Uzbekistan’s position in the State Department’s report on trafficking in persons.
“We are determined to impede torture. We believe that Nelson Mandela’s rules should be consistently applied in all prisons, and the Uzbek government must ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,” the chief of the diplomatic mission asserted.
Javlon Vahabov said that prisons throughout the country are being equipped with video surveillance systems to make sure that torture is no longer tolerated in Uzbekistan.
