The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) is provided for by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in the framework of the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 57/199 of December 18, 2002. In accordance with the Optional Protocol, the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT), during its 12th session held on November 15-19, 2010, approved the Guidelines on National Preventive Mechanisms and the Approach to the Concept for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Forms treatment and punishment.
A separate article provides for the activities of the Authorized Person for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In particular, the Ombudsman takes measures to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment through regular visits to places of detention. According to the legislation, to facilitate the activities of the Authorized Person for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, he creates an expert group. The composition of the expert group is formed from representatives of non-governmental non-profit organizations with professional and practical knowledge, as a rule, in the field of jurisprudence, medicine, psychology, pedagogy, and also in other fields. The Ombudsman determines the tasks of the members of the expert group on the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and also gives them the special right to freely visit places of detention and other places that persons who are there cannot leave of their own free will.
The Law takes into account the requirements of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
On the initiative of the Ombudsman, the Committee on Defense and Security of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis heard information from the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the implementation by the internal affairs bodies of the relevant UN Convention (June 2018, July 2019, November 2019, October 2020). During the meetings, the Ombudsman informed the Committee about the facts of receipt of complaints with arguments about the use of measures of influence by the employees of the internal affairs bodies and the results of their consideration. Based on the results of the hearing, the relevant decisions of the Committee were adopted.
It is important to note that in 2019, along with the report of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the fulfillment of obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights for the first time submitted an Alternative Report of the Ombudsman to the UN Committee against Torture.
On November 11-12, 2019, in Geneva, at the UN Committee against Torture, the Ombudsman presented a report on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The purpose of the report was to convey to the UN bodies the essence and significance of the measures taken within the framework of the Action Strategy to ensure the protection of human rights during judicial investigations and the execution of sentences, to enhance the role of the Ombudsman institution and public organizations in this direction.
In order to further develop the legal framework for the activities of the Ombudsman, by a joint resolution of the Kengash of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and the Kengash of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (30/11/2019), the Regulation “On the activities of the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” was approved
The adopted amendments ensure the compliance of the norms of national legislation with the international legal framework, legislative and practical support for the activities of the Ombudsman “The Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (Paris Principles), approved by the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 48/134 of December 20, 1993 of the year.
As it known, the Paris Principles concerning the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights were developed in October 1991 in Paris, at an international conference under the auspices of the UN Commission on Human Rights. They are a set of declarative rules that are designed to determine the functions, formation, funding and other criteria for ensuring the independence and functioning of national human rights institutions.
It should be noted that in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On additional measures to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution and the law, strengthening public control in this direction, as well as improving legal culture in society” No. PP-4551 dated December 13, 2019 from April 1, 2020 years, a mandatory procedure was introduced for video filming of actions to detain a person, explain to him procedural rights, refuse a defense lawyer, and also impose a duty on law enforcement officers after they detain a person upon immediate notification of his detention and the place of detention of any of his family members, and when their absence – other relatives or close persons.
In addition, according to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures to further strengthen guarantees for the protection of the rights and freedoms of the individual in judicial and investigative activities” dated August 10, 2020, the main directions for further improvement of judicial investigative activities are determined:
– ensuring unconditional observance of the rights and freedoms of the individual, improving the quality of procedural actions, revising the system for collecting, consolidating and evaluating evidence in criminal proceedings, taking into account the standards of evidence widely used in advanced foreign practice;- raising to a new level the activities of law enforcement agencies in solving crimes, ensuring the inevitability of responsibility for each crime committed and full compensation for damage caused to the individual, society and the state;
– introduction of effective mechanisms to prevent the commission of acts related to the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as strengthening the responsibility for such acts;
– widespread introduction of modern information and communication technologies in the process of investigating criminal cases, further strengthening the material and technical base and increasing the personnel potential of the bodies of inquiry and preliminary investigation;
– increasing the efficiency of the crime prevention system, as well as introducing mechanisms for the timely identification and elimination of the causes and conditions conducive to crime, improving the legal culture and the formation of law-abiding citizens among citizens.
As a priority, the Ombudsman carries out systematic work to protect the rights of persons in custody. In the period 2016 – 2019, the Ombudsman, within the framework of the mandate of the National Preventive Mechanism, carried out 73 monitoring visits, including 53 visits to penal institutions and 20 to pre-trial detention centers.
During 2020, the Ombudsman carried out 76 monitoring visits – 42 penitentiary institutions (26 penal colonies and 16 colonies-settlements), 6 pre-trial detention centers, 5 special reception centers for holding persons subjected to administrative arrest, 9 temporary detention centers, 8 departments of internal cases and 2 centers of internal affairs bodies for the rehabilitation of persons without a fixed abode.
The monitoring group, taking into account the coronavirus pandemic during the quarantine period, using personal protective equipment, visited 10 penitentiary institutions (4 penal colonies and 6 penal colonies), quarantine centers in Khorezm and Navoi Tashkent regions.
The monitoring was attended by the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), his Deputy – the Authorized Person for Children’s Rights, deputies of the Legislative Chamber and members of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, representatives of the National Center for Human Rights, NGOs, in particular the National Movement “Yuxalish”, Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan “Ezgulik”, Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Federation of Trade Unions.
During the period 2016 – 2020, within the framework of the monitoring, the conditions of detention of convicts and the procedure for treating them, the quality of medical care, catering, labor, educational and spiritual and educational work were studied, collective conversations were held with more than 8 thousand people and individual conversations with 1088 convicts.
The conducted monitoring shows that the organization for the execution of sentences in the form of imprisonment, the detention of persons in pre-trial detention centers are carried out in accordance with the requirements of the country’s legislation and international norms.
In addition, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights works closely with the Office of Penal Reform International in Central Asia.The Foreign Affairs Council of the EU in its annual report “On Human Rights and Democracy in the World in 2018” highlighted cooperation between Uzbekistan and PRI in a positive perspective.
As part of measures to improve the professional knowledge of employees of internal affairs bodies and the legal culture of citizens, the Ombudsman, together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the representative office of Penal Reform International, published brochures “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” in the state and Russian languages (circulation: 500 copies) and UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules) (circulation: 1,500 copies). 850 brochures were donated to library funds, penal institutions and pre-trial detention centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In order to comprehensively study international legal documents and foreign experience in the development of the National Preventive Mechanism, the Ombudsman also implements joint activities with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, the United Nations Development Program in Uzbekistan, and the Central Asia Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (No.УП-6012 от June 22, 2020), the “Roadmap” for the implementation of the National Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Human Rights was approved and adopted. According to which the priority areas are determined:in the field of protection of personal and political rights;
protection of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as in the field of sustainable development;improving the mechanisms for the implementation of international human rights standards in legislation and law enforcement practice, as well as their monitoring;
to improve legal literacy in the field of human rights, including the effective organization of the dissemination of information and educational activities in this area; to develop cooperation with international and regional structures in the field of human rights protection, national human rights institutions of foreign countries.
On December 29, 2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his Address to the Oliy Majlis noted that “Work will continue on the wider implementation of the principle of humanism in the system of punishment execution. In particular, based on international standards, 25 colonies-settlements will be phased out. Henceforth, if the punishment imposed on a person sentenced to imprisonment for the first time is replaced by a lighter one, he, instead of being assigned to a colony-settlement, will be sent under probation supervision. As a result of this relaxation, 6 thousand people currently serving sentences will be given the chance to live at home with their families under the supervision of the makhalla.”
The Address also stressed the need for a cardinal revision in order to improve the system for the prevention of torture in operational-search activities, investigative bodies and the execution of sentences. The chambers of the Oliy Majlis and the National Center for Human Rights were instructed to develop, within two months, proposals to expand the powers of the Ombudsman in the field of torture prevention, as well as to strengthen public control in this area. The need to establish a system of quarterly monitoring visits to pre-trial detention centers and penitentiary institutions with the participation of representatives of the public was noted. The chambers of the Oliy Majlis are recommended to annually hear the report of the Authorized Person for Human Rights on the prevention of torture and determine the necessary measures to completely eradicate this extremely negative phenomenon.
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, speaking at the 46th session of the United Nations Council on Human Rights, emphasized that “as part of the implementation of the national preventive mechanism for the prevention of torture, we will continue to strictly suppress all their manifestations, inhuman or degrading treatment. Such crimes will not have a statute of limitations. We intend to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. To work together on these issues, we plan to invite a Special Rapporteur on torture to Uzbekistan.
In conclusion, it can be noted that systematic purposeful work is being carried out in Uzbekistan to strengthen the legislative and institutional framework for the protection of human rights, the implementation of international human rights standards into national legislation and the implementation of international obligations, as well as intensify cooperation with international organizations on the protection of human rights, including convicts.