Background Briefing

Introduction

In June 2006, the Uzbek government issued an aide-memoire,1 prepared in response to a December 2005 UN General Assembly resolution that was critical of Uzbekistan’s human rights record. The aide-memoire distorts Uzbek government policies and practices, denies the existence of any human rights problems in the country, and rejects as “unfounded” any concerns expressed by the international community. It illustrates the government’s lack of good faith in its dialogue with the international community on human rights issues. Below, Human Rights Watch contrasts a number of the assertions made in the aide-memoire with the findings from our on-the-ground research and monitoring of the human rights situation in the country.



1 “Aide-memoire concerning United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/174 of 16 December 2005, entitled ‘Situation of human rights in Uzbekistan,’” presented in the form of an annex to a letter dated 26 June 2006 from the Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/60/914, June 30, 2006).