On Thursday, Richard Norland, US ambassador to Uzbekistan, told a group of rights activists and reporters in the capital Tashkent that Uzbekistan has shown more willingness to improve.

"We have seen since January 2008 that the government is making small but significant steps to improve the human rights situation such as releasing political prisoners," he said in Russian-language remarks.

"And we will encourage the government at every opportunity to continue with this progress."