It is known that the President's Address to the Oliy Majlis envisages expanding the powers of the Authorized Person for the torture prevention, creating a system of "monitoring visits" to Detention center’s and penitentiary institutions jointly with representatives of the public on a quarterly basis and ensuring the delivery of results to the Parliament. It was noted that the memorandum on cooperation signed between the two organizations is aimed at continuing effective cooperation in order to achieve the goals set in the appeal, expanding the guarantees of protecting the rights and lawful interests of convicts.

In his speech, Rustam Tursunov, head of the Penitentiary Department, praised the recommendations of the expert group of community representatives working within the National Preventive Mechanism under the Human Rights Ombudsman during monitoring visits to penitentiary institutions and efforts to increase the prospects for cooperation. He stressed that this important document will also contribute to the consistent and gradual development of relations between the Ombudsman and the Penitentiary Department.

The Ombudsman also noted that in his speech at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the President of Uzbekistan stressed that any form of torture that degrades human dignity and is inhuman will no longer be tolerated under the National Preventive Mechanism to prevent torture, and both government agencies need to work more effectively on the tasks at hand.

As part of the event, the Department of Corrections of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also organized an exhibition of products made by inmates in the workshops of penitentiary institutions.

Press Service of the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman)