The Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Feruza Eshmatova made a report on this issue.

It is noted that in 2022, in total, the Authorized Person received 17,761 appeals from citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan and stateless persons, foreign citizens and Ombudsmen of foreign states, as well as persons held in places of detention of persons with limited freedom of movement, their close relatives and defenders (lawyers). Compared to 2021, the number of applications decreased by 977 or 5.2 percent.

Despite the fact that 95 appeals were recognized as anonymous in accordance with the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Appeals of Individuals and Legal Entities”, the problematic issues raised in them were reflected in the corresponding analysis of appeals.

As a result of the measures taken to drastically reduce the number of repeated applications sent to the Ombudsman, the number of repeated applications in 2022 compared to 2021 decreased by 734, or 15.8 percent.

Based on the analysis of appeals received from citizens, by regions, most of the appeals were received from Kashkadarya (2297), Tashkent (2079), Surkhandarya (1582) and Tashkent regions (947), the least appeals were from Syrdarya (267), the Republic of Karakalpakstan (292) and Andijan region (388).

The analysis of appeals by districts and cities showed that most of the appeals were received from the Koson district of the Kashkadarya region (600) and the city of Karshi (414), the Denov district of the Surkhandarya region (370).

When analyzing the appeals received by the Ombudsman, 31.4% of the appeals were in the field of social rights, 27.7% - in the field of citizens' rights to appeal, political rights and freedoms, 24.2% - in the field of economic rights.

In 2022, the Ombudsman sent 134 documents, including 20 conclusions, 36 submissions, 78 claims, to state bodies and institutions for the restoration of violated rights of citizens in the form of enforcement measures. 73.1% of targeted interventions were resolved positively.

Based on the request of the Ombudsman, violations in the actions of responsible employees of state bodies were revealed, 3 responsible employees were dismissed from their positions, 22 responsible persons received a disciplinary sanction “reprimand”, 6 responsible persons were subjected to a disciplinary sanction “fine” in the amount of 30.0% of the average monthly wages, 3 responsible employees were brought to administrative responsibility for negligent attitude to their work.

Also, 3 responsible law enforcement officers were brought to disciplinary responsibility for improper performance of their duties, 1 person received a strict warning.

In 2022, based on citizens' appeals, the amount of collected and imposed penalties amounted to 2 billion 372 million soums. Of these, 45.4 million are maintenance payments and more than 505.9 million soums are wages of citizens and payments related to labor relations.

Also, 13 citizens were reinstated at work, 4 citizens were employed. The fact of work of 14 citizens in harmful working conditions was established. A decision was made to recalculate the length of service that was not taken into account when calculating pensions for 7 citizens, and the fact of the death of 11 citizens was established.

The fact of birth was established and assistance was provided in the preparation of documents for 27 persons living in charity homes.

In 2022, the Ombudsman received 3235 appeals on various issues from persons held in penitentiary institutions, their close relatives and defenders (lawyers). 1,699, or 52.5 percent of above mentioned appeals were sent directly by convicts and prisoners.

The Ombudsman and public groups for the detection and prevention of cases of torture under him made 381 monitoring visits to places of detention of persons with limited freedom of movement. In 2021, this figure was 177.

Also, as a result of consideration of complaints and statements of convicts and prisoners received by the Ombudsman, the prosecutor's office canceled 43 decisions to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings, and additional inquiries and pre-investigation checks were scheduled.

The verdict handed down by the relevant courts to 52 convicted on 21 statements was changed to a lighter one, and the precautionary measure chosen in respect of 13 accused was changed to a lighter one.

Material and social support was provided to family members of 17 convicts (prisoners). 21 convicts were transferred to a colony in a territory close to their place of residence, on the basis of the principle of humanity.

Also, on 9 appeals against 11 employees, disciplinary measures were applied, and on 1 appeal with 1 employee, the employment contract was terminated, also, according to investigations conducted by the prosecutor's office, the disciplinary measure applied to 3 convicts was declared illegal and canceled.

In the course of investigative actions carried out by the prosecutor's office, on 2 appeals, criminal cases were initiated against 2 employees of the systems of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Health.

The activities of the Ombudsman in the national commissions, cooperation with civil society institutions, raising legal awareness and legal culture, protecting the rights of children, ensuring openness and transparency of activities, and especially the participation of the Ombudsman in the activities of the Commission to study the situation and events that occurred in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, also aroused a wide discussion.

Analyzing the problems in the areas in which the Ombudsman received the most appeals, the meeting noted the need to reduce repeated appeals and widely apply legal measures to restore the violated rights of citizens.

Proposals were also made to further strengthen measures aimed at improving the legal culture of the population within the framework of the Ombudsman School project and paying special attention to the effectiveness of monitoring visits to places of detention of persons with limited freedom of movement.

The corresponding resolution of the Senate was adopted on this issue.

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