Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 14 July 2020, a National Dialogue on the Protection of Human Rights took place in the context of restrictions imposed in connection with COVID -19.

It was organized by the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NCHR). This was reported by the press service of the National Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights

Partners for the online forum were the United Nations Country Office in Uzbekistan and the Office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in the country.

The dialogue followed the visit of a delegation of UN and OSCE officials to the quarantine center in Urtasaray on 24 June, organized by the Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov and the First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Director of the NCHR Professor Akmal Saidov.

During the Dialogue, the learned lessons and recommendations arising from the experience of Uzbekistan and global perspectives were shared by speakers from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Children’s Ombudsman, an expert from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, the vice-chairman of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, European specialist WHO Regional Office; civil society representatives.

On 19 March 2020 approved “WHO Guidelines for the Quarantine of Individuals in the Context of Coronavirus Disease Control (COVID-19)”. As noted by the participants in the Dialogue, the document provides that “constructive interaction with the public is important [...], and quarantined persons should receive medical care, financial, social and psychosocial support; their basic needs, including the need for food, water and other vital products, must be met. Priority should be given to the needs of vulnerable populations.”

The WHO Guidelines also recommend that “quarantined individuals should be able to communicate with the outside world and, if possible, should be provided with access to the Internet, news resources and entertainment programs.”

The recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee on quarantine related to COVID-19 was also voiced that “states [...] cannot deny their obligation to treat all people, including persons [...] in prison humanity and respect for their human dignity.”

As the first deputy speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, director of the NCHR Akmal Saidov, said: “The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed the fact that a number of governments and international organizations are taking important steps to mitigate the impact of the fight against COVID-19 virus on human rights, especially economic and social rights. In this regard, it is worth noting that in our country all the necessary measures are being taken to eliminate this threat. Most importantly, this is primarily due to the requirement that human interests take precedence over everything else.”

Speaking during the Dialogue, he praised the active efforts of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, John McGregor, coordinator of the OSCE project in Uzbekistan.

“Quarantine zones clearly played an important role among various public health measures, as we can see from the fact that over the past month a significant majority of all new cases have been detected in these zones. The international community can certainly learn from this experience,” he said, emphasizing that the OSCE is looking forward to working with the Government to implement a number of recommendations made during the Dialogue.

“This event provided a useful opportunity to reflect on the importance of harmonizing public health measures with international health rules and standards and human rights obligations,” said Helena Fraser, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan. She also believes that the Dialogue allowed for an exchange of views on measures to strengthen the protection of the rights of persons in quarantine institutions, including the establishment of a feedback mechanism so that those in quarantine institutions can quickly communicate their health, mental and physical well-being and thus receive timely support.

As noted during the Dialogue, today Uzbekistan, like the entire international community, is confronted with the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, which is the most serious challenge to humanity in modern history. Thanks to the timely anti-epidemic measures taken by the Government of Uzbekistan, the country is able to minimize the effects of the pandemic.

By order of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a Special Republican Commission was set up in a timely manner and is effective in preparing a program of measures to prevent the importation and spread of a new type of coronavirus in the country. Subsequently, decisions were made to suspend air, rail and road communications with other states, and to close pre-school, secondary and higher educational institutions. A progressive package of economic measures has been adopted to mitigate the impact of the crisis on relatively vulnerable sectors of the economy.

An Anti-Crisis Fund under the Ministry of Finance has been created with an initial amount of 10 trillion soums (US$1 billion). Business and entrepreneurship entities were granted tax holidays, a number of other tax benefits and deferred loan payments. Social assistance was organized for the most vulnerable groups of the population.

To effectively combat coronavirus in all regions of the republic, specialized medical institutions and quarantine zones have been organized. In the Tashkent region, a specialized quarantine zone for 20 thousand places was commissioned, 10 thousand of which have already been transferred for operation. The construction of a modern modular clinic with 10 thousand beds has been completed.

In order to minimize the spread of the disease, a wide explanatory work is carried out among the population, including using social networks. Measures are being taken to return citizens of Uzbekistan who are abroad.