Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 19-21 June, a training on international standards for the prevention of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment in places of detention is being held in Tashkent.

It was organized by the National Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights, the Department for the Execution of Punishment under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, together with the Office of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan.

The training was organized for representatives of penitentiary institutions in Tashkent and Tashkent region. Its main goal is to develop the knowledge and skills of employees of penitentiary institutions in identifying relevant offenses, protecting convicts from torture and ill-treatment.

During the training, participants review international standards in the field of prevention of torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention.

It also discusses the duties and responsibilities assigned to medical personnel in the course of documenting allegations of torture, preventing severe violence in places of detention.

During the training, national experts also provide information on the reforms carried out in Uzbekistan in the field of combating torture.

Uzbekistan is taking consistent and step-by-step measures to improve the system for organizing the fulfillment of its international obligations in the field of human rights and freedoms, incl. in the field of creating the necessary organizational and legal conditions for preventing and spreading torture.

Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Director of the National Center for Human Rights noted:

“The prohibition of ill-treatment and torture is a recognized fundamental right, included both in international human rights treaties and in national legislation around the world. The new version of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan prohibits the use of torture and ill-treatment under any circumstances and without any exceptions.”

Nadia Yaklaf-Lalleman, OSCE Senior Project Adviser in Uzbekistan, emphasized:

“The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan is ready to continue to support the development of the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture, to assist in the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and in monitoring the observance of human rights and combating torture, as well as in the development of the National Action Plan for the Prevention of Torture” .

In the interactive part of the training, the participants reviewed case studies based on the Nelson Mandela rules, protection of socially vulnerable categories of prisoners, measures to prevent ill-treatment, etc.

This training was organized within the framework of the project "Promoting the sustainable development of the national system for the protection of human rights in Uzbekistan."