Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 1 November 2004.
Keith Vaz
Labour, Leicester East
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of torture have been brought to his Department's attention in the last 10 years in (a) Uzbekistan and (b) all countries.
Bill Rammell
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
We receive reports of incidents of torture and human rights abuses from various sources, including individuals and NGOs, from all over the world, including Uzbekistan. The UK has a strong record, in conjunction with international partners, of acting on such reports.
We do not keep lists of all reported incidents of torture we receive. However, the Government have published an Annual Report on Human Rights since 1997. It provides an overview of the main challenges to human rights around the world, including torture, and explains the Government's overall activities and policies to address those challenges, in both bilateral and multilateral contexts. The report incorporates comments and recommendations we receive over the year from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and from a number of NGOs.
The report has been critical of Uzbekistan's human rights record and we shall be equally forthright in the 2004 report when it is published in November.
Yes4 people think so
No3 people think not
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