In his Address to the Oliy Majlis on December 29, 2020 and in the State Program for 2021, the President stressed the need for the Ombudsman to establish a system of “monitoring visits” to pre-trial detention centers and penitentiary institutions on a quarterly basis to prevent torture. In order to ensure the implementation of the tasks set in the Petition and the State Program for 2021, the Ombudsman and the Expert Group, as well as regional representatives of the Ombudsman for Human Rights, regularly monitor closed institutions with the participation of the media.

It should be noted that the Group of Experts on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment under the National Preventive Mechanism under the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) has been monitoring since 2019.

Thanks to this, parliamentary and public control over the observance of human rights in penitentiary institutions, pre-trial detention centers and other closed institutions is established. During the first quarter of this year, a group of public experts working under the National Preventive Mechanism conducted about twenty-five monitoring visits to places of detention of people with disabilities.  During the study, group meetings with more than a thousand prisoners and individual interviews with 217 prisoners were carried out.

During the monitoring visits, the conditions of detention were studied, that is, accommodation and food, work and medical care, spiritual and educational work for prisoners, compliance with sanitary and hygienic requirements during the coronavirus pandemic, education and other similar issues.

In this regard, in order to organize these monitoring visits at a high level and to raise awareness of the members of the expert group in this regard about the procedures and requirements established in pre-trial detention centers and penitentiary institutions, as well as to raise awareness of international legal norms for the prevention of torture, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis Of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsman), in cooperation with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, will conduct training seminars throughout the country.

The seminar in Termez was attended by 25 regional representatives of the Ombudsman in the Surkhandarya region, judges, prosecutors, police, the Chamber of Lawyers, health authorities and public education.

The participants of the seminar were informed about the large-scale reforms of the penitentiary system and the country to prevent the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in relation to detainees, prisoners and persons sentenced to imprisonment.

They also considered the OSCE standards on the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as the foreign experience of public oversight of the observance of human rights in closed institutions.

During the training seminar, the participants were given answers to other questions of the practical application of their knowledge and skills.

At the end of the seminar, the participants were awarded certificates.

Regular regional seminars on the topic "Legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan and international legal norms in the field of protection of the rights and freedoms of prisoners and detainees" will be organized in Kashkadarya, Khorezm and Tashkent regions.

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