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UN human rights official urges Uzbekistan not to execute detainees

UN human rights official urges Uzbekistan not to execute detainees

The senior United Nations human rights official has called on the government of Uzbekistan not to execute detainees who have appealed their convictions to the UN Human Rights Committee.

In a letter to the government sent on 4 July, Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan recalled that the Committee, an 18-member panel of independent experts, had requested stays of execution in relation to a number of prisoners while it considered their petitions.

Mr. Ramcharan urged the government to make all necessary efforts in order to ensure strict observance of its international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol and to cooperate fully with the Special Procedures.

Mr. Ramcharan is acting chief during High Commissioner Sergio Vieira de Mello's temporary absence in Iraq, where he is serving as Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative.