Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the government of Kyrgyzstan about human rights, and the Kyrgyz seat on the UN Human Rights Council from January 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We engage with the Kyrgyz authorities regularly, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, across a broad spectrum on governance and human rights issues. The UK participated actively in Kyrgyzstan’s UN Universal Periodic Review process in October 2014. On 18 December, the UK Chargé d’ Affaires, together with EU Delegation Officials, discussed human rights issues with the Chair of the Kyrgyz Parliamentary committee responsible for Human Rights. We welcome Kyrgyzstan’s election to the UN Human Rights Council. We hope it will be an opportunity for Kyrgyzstan to build on its achievements to date to ensure full respect for its international human rights commitments and the Constitution, including the right to protection against any kind of discrimination; and equality before the law.