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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the Government of Uzbekistan about the restrictions placed on non-governmental organisations operating in the country. [205275] Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply. We continue to be concerned by the restrictions imposed upon and the harassment suffered by the NGO community in Uzbekistan. In February 2004 the EU wrote to the Minister of Justice stressing the importance of the contribution made to society by NGOs and raised the issue again with the Deputy Minister of Justice in March. We were very concerned to learn of the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to re-register the Open Society Institute in April. The EU raised this with the Uzbek Government at senior ministerial level in a demarche, which was delivered by the UK as acting Presidency in Tashkent. We are still pressing for an official response. In November we received reports that the Uzbek authorities might not renew the visa of the Director of Human Rights Watch in Uzbekistan, Allison Gill. We joined EU partners in bringing the issue to the attention of Foreign Minister Safayev in a meeting on 11 November. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary followed this with a letter to Mr. Safayev pressing for the renewal of Ms Gill's visa, in which he said that: "the activities of civil society groups such as Human Rights Watch are an essential part of a healthy democracy." An extension has been granted until 31 December, We will continue to press for a full renewal.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

205275; 429 c60-1W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Visas Non-governmental organisations Uzbekistan

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk