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Spotlight on Uzbekistan
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Recommendations
Based on the findings of the research in this publication and the details set out in the conclusion
above, in order to help Uzbekistan continue to fulfil the promise of recent reforms and address the
outstanding problems there are a number of recommendations for action by the Government of
Uzbekistan and the international community.
The Government of Uzbekistan should seek to:
Continue reforming the civil service to improve structures and capacity while being more
measured and consultative when creating new legislation and decrees.
Develop a more competitive political environment in Uzbekistan by removing restrictions on
registering new parties and allowing independent candidates to stand for election.
Reform local government by requiring the direct elections of Khokims, with greater public
consultation about developments and giving Kengeshs real power to decide on planning
decisions. Empower it to take action on compensation and forced evictions, to ensure
developers contribute to social infrastructure and help protect historic buildings.
Require transparency for all holders of public office including politicians and judges with
declarations of external sources of income and assets, while making public the ownership
details of firms involved in the new ‘clusters’.
Move beyond ‘constructive criticism’ to true freedom of expression and association by
delivering new anti-defamation laws without the threat of prison or massive fines, allowing
independent NGOs to register and helping them do so.
Help facilitate the end of the boycott of Uzbek cotton by urgently registering cotton
monitoring NGOs and independent trade unions.
Continue the reform of the Prosecutor General’s Office and security services to prevent the
harassment of activists and political opponents.
Deliver transitional justice and greater openness about the Karimov legacy helping the
rehabilitation of victims of past abuse.
Continue to expand both religious and social freedoms that prioritise individual choice over
community pressure, with more women in senior government positions, action on domestic
violence, ending laws against the LGBTQ community and stopping the pressure on
independent religious groups.
International institutions and Governments should seek to:
Continue their engagement with the Government of Uzbekistan whilst ensuring they remain
open to criticism and pressure where necessary as well as praising successes.
Support an international human rights health check ahead of decisions to elect Uzbekistan
to the UN Human Rights Council or award it the right to host the 2027 Asian Games.
Spotlight on Uzbekistan
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Acknowledgements
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
The editor would like to thank all of the authors who have kindly participated in this project, both
through their thoughtful essay contributions and the advice they have given to the development of
the project. He is particularly greatly for the expertise and dedication of Dilmira Matyakubova who
has served as the project’s local adviser and research support. He would like to thank his FPC
colleague Poppy Ogier for her hard work editing and formatting the publication. He would like to
take this opportunity to thank all the experts in Uzbekistan and around the world who have helped
with the development of the research including David Lewis, Farida Charif, Felix Corley, Irina
Matvienko, Jonas Astrup, Nazima Davletova, Dilfuza Kurolova, David Boothroyd, Tim Torlot, Florian
Irminger and many more who wish to remain anonymous for a range of different reasons under the
circumstances.
As ever, he is indebted to the kind support of the Open Society Foundations who have enabled this
project to take place and would particularly like to thank Eka Iakobishvili, Alisher Ilkhamov and
Michael Hall for their help with developing Spotlight on Uzbekistan.
First published in July 2020 by The Foreign Policy Centre (FPC Think Tank Ltd)
www.fpc.org.uk info@fpc.org.uk
© FPC Think Tank Ltd 2020
All rights reserved
Disclaimer: The views expressed in each essay in this publication are those of the individual authors
alone and do not represent the views of The Foreign Policy Centre. The views expressed by each
author do not represent agreement with the views expressed by other essay contributors or
necessarily with the publication’s conclusions and recommendations drafted by the editor.
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