International engagement & domestic repression: Uzbek government's split approach raises concern by the UK

In its latest assessment of human rights in Uzbekistan, the British government identifies a contradiction between the Uzbek government's engagement of the International Labour Organization and continued repression of human rights defenders who are its citizens.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) reports that it hopes the ILO's work in Uzbekistan will "enable human rights organisations to contribute to reporting on the extent to which ILO conventions are being implemented." The FCO adds that in March this year the Uzbek government arrested and deported an international labor rights consultant.

After the March deportation, the subsequent brutalization of a human rights defender for documenting forced labor in the cotton fields this spring indicated the Uzbek government continues to silence any independent monitoring of labor rights.


 

As cited in the UK's statement, , raising questions about the government's commitment to international labor rights.