2008 Press Releases
U.S. Department оf State Releases the 2007 Country Reports оn Human Rights Practices (03/13/2008)
Report on Uzbekistan
On March 11, 2008, the U.S. Department of State released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The report examines the status of human rights during 2007 in 196 countries and entities, including Uzbekistan.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated at the press conference releasing the report that “In every region of the world, men and women are working peacefully, and often at great risk to themselves and their families, to secure human rights and fundamental freedoms, to follow their consciences and speak their minds without fear, to choose those who would govern them and to hold their leaders accountable and to achieve equal justice under the law.”
“These aspirations, though common to all of us, are unfortunately still denied to millions worldwide, often by their own governments. In too many countries, champions of human rights are denounced and persecuted, vilified as traitors or targeted for repression – just for insisting upon the freedoms enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
"We gather today to support them and it is our hope that this Human Rights Report will highlight the obstacles that still stand in their way, so that they may bear the mantle of justice at least -- at less risk to themselves and to their families. This document is collected and written with the optimism that no corner of the earth is permanently condemned to tyranny. As President Bush has said, “Freedom can be resisted, and freedom can be delayed, but freedom cannot be denied.” In the long run, we are confident that citizens who sacrifice for their dignity and their rights will prevail, just as the Havels and the Mandelas did before them.”
“Change may, indeed change will, take time, but change will come. As long as citizens around the world champion the universal values of human rights, there is hope. And we, in the United States, continue to believe that it is our duty to support these courageous men and women.”