UN Human Rights Council 60: UK Statement for Kyrgyzstan's UPR Adoption
UK Statement for Kyrgyzstan's UPR Adoption. Not delivered due to time constraints.
Thank you, Mr President,
The United Kingdom thanks Kyrgyzstan for participating in this review. We commend its efforts on gender equality and constructive engagement with the Council. We encourage continued progress.
We welcome Kyrgyzstan’s support of the majority of recommendations. However, we regret the exclusion of several key UK recommendations, particularly those concerning civil society and fundamental freedoms.
We encourage Kyrgyzstan to ensure that national security measures are proportionate, transparent and consistent with international law. In this regard, we urge them to retain the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture as an independent and separate National Preventative Mechanism.
We remain concerned about the “foreign representatives” law, which risks undermining the independence of NGOs and restricting civic space. We call for its repeal and for all legislation affecting civil society to comply with international human rights standards.
Freedom of expression must be protected. Independent media should operate without fear of harassment or prosecution. We urge Kyrgyzstan to decriminalise defamation and insult, and prevent the misuse of legal processes to silence dissent.
The UK stands ready to support Kyrgyzstan in implementing reforms and we look forward to our continued close engagement.