Uzbekistan: Parliament considered the situation with torture
On October 21, the Senate considered the results of the Parliament’s inquiry to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Department of the Interior on torture.
Deputy Prosecutor General Abdukhalim Kholmakhmatov said that since the beginning of the year, the Prosecutor General’s Office received 242 complaints of torture and inhuman treatment. During the same period, 2323 complaints of illegal actions were investigated in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “11 law enforcement officers were charged with crimes of torture,” Kholmakhmatov said.
It is noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office has developed four bills and one draft decree and sent them to the presidential administration. One of the proposals is the creation of a Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
In May, Deputy Prosecutor General Svetlana Artykova announced the creation of a Committee accountable to Parliament and the President. In her speech, she explained this by assessing the situation with torture, which “causes reasonable concern of the population” and is negatively assessed in international ratings and indicators. S. Artykova noted that “the place of Uzbekistan in the Human Development Index, published annually by the UN Development Program, has not changed in a positive direction over the past 20 years. The reason why the bills have been considered for so long in the presidential administration is unknown.
Over the years of the rule of country’s leader Mirziyoev, this is another attempt to combat violence. In April 2018, the law came into force that strengthens the responsibility for the use of torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Changes in legislation for the use of torture entail punishment for a term of three to five years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions.
At the plenary session of the Senate, it was reported that, in particular, a new procedure for strict observance of the UN Convention (1984) and the Criminal Procedure Code had been implemented.
Also, the facts were made public about the installation of 9,547 surveillance cameras in 468 administrative buildings of the internal affairs authorities, 91 – in temporary detention centers, 13 – in special reception centers, 12 – in rehabilitation centers, 43 – in institutions for the execution of sentences, and 11 – in pre-trial detention centers.
