A group of US Senators has asked U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to focus on human rights in the upcoming Strategic Partnership Dialogue between the United States and Uzbekistan. The letter dated December 6 was signed by the Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez and five other Democratic Party members, Senators Chris Van Hollen, Dick Durbin, Kirsten Gillibrand, Sherrod Brown, and Ben Cardin.
In 2020, the governments of Uzbekistan and the United States decided to transform the annual bilateral political consultations between the countries into a Strategic Partnership Dialogue. As part of this dialogue, the countries intend to "develop closer cooperation in the fields of politics, security, economics and human rights." Its first meeting is to be held in Washington before the end of the year.
Senators in the letter highlighted that in the aftermath of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, our bilateral relationships with Uzbekistan has become even more important." “As we strengthen our security and counter-terrorism coordination, we must also emphasize the importance of human rights in Uzbekistan and for our partnership. Despite much-lauded reforms, Uzbekistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries and at risk of reversing recent gains.
Senators acknowledged the country's human rights progress over the past five years, including the release of political prisoners and the freeing thousands of people from forced labor in the cotton fields, but in their opinion, "these steps fall short of the wholesale reforms promised by the president. Reports that reform drive has slowed, particularly when it comes to limits on free speech and the media reforms are troubling.
They also noted with concern the lack of substantial progress toward political liberalization. Last month, President Mirziyoyev won a second term in an election where opposition parties were not permitted to run candidates and independent candidates were banned. International election observers noted significant procedural irregularities and classified the elections as not truly competitive. The State Department concurred, saying that elections occurred in an overly restrictive political environment and that important election safeguards were disregarded. Without true political liberalization, president Mirziyoyev’s reforms could easily be reversed under future governments.
They urged have called for US cooperation with the Uzbek government to support "long-term and meaningful" reform of the country's criminal code. They noted that a number of amendments were made to the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, but expressed concern that "many problematic provisions remain largely unchanged." Senators also drew attention to the "lack of significant progress towards political liberalization."
The forthcoming Strategic Partnership Dialogue with Uzbekistan - the first of its kind under the enhanced partnerships - offers a unique opportunity to establish respect for human rights as a fundamental component of the United States' relationship with Uzbekistan ... We urge this opportunity to be seized, the senators wrote.
