AKIPRESS.COM - Men in Uzbekistan who engage in consensual same-sex sexual conduct face arbitrary detention, prosecution, and imprisonment as well as homophobia, threats, and extortion, Human Rights Watch said.

Uzbekistan should guarantee rights to personal security, privacy, and nondiscrimination by decriminalizing consensual sexual conduct between men, HRW said.

Uzbekistan, a current member of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, has undertaken key human rights reforms since President Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in 2016, but the criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct remains a significant stain on Tashkent’s record.

Article 120 of the current criminal code punishes consensual sexual conduct between men with up to three years in prison.