asked Her Majesty's Government:

What action they are taking with the Government of Uzbekistan regarding freedom of worship and access to Bibles for practising Christians in Uzbekistan.[HL1129]

We remain profoundly concerned about restrictions on religious freedom in Uzbekistan.

The Uzbek authorities tightly control religious practice. A degree of tolerance is permitted to traditional churches which are seen as non-proselytising Christian groups; for example, Russian Orthodox Christians and Catholics. However, proselytising groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses are not able to register and even those which are registered, such as Baptists, can experience regular harassment and are vulnerable to criminal charges for unregistered religious activity or civil charges for possession of books or religious materials which the authorities regard as “missionary”.

Freedom of religion is a key part of the human rights dialogue that we and the EU have with the Uzbek authorities. Our embassy in Tashkent closely monitors freedom of religion and the treatment of Muslim and Christian worshippers, including through regular contacts with Christians of various denominations as well as a range of other religious contacts. We raise these issues with the Uzbek authorities bilaterally and with our EU colleagues through the EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue. We publish our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual human rights report available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1159199103169.