Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - These days, the 128th session of the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) is taking place in Geneva. The session was attended by the delegation of our country, headed by the First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, director of the National Center for Human Rights Akmal Saidov.

According to the Permanent Mission of Uzbekistan to the UN Office in Geneva, the delegation presented the fifth periodic report of Uzbekistan on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

In his opening remarks, the head of the delegation, A. Saidov, provided detailed information on the main directions and achievements in implementing the provisions of the Covenant in Uzbekistan.

During the interactive dialogue, Committee experts welcomed the progress made in the development of a human rights culture in Uzbekistan after the election of Shavkat Mirziyoyev as President of the country. They noted with satisfaction the reduction in the prison population, the prohibition of the use of evidence obtained under torture, and progress in achieving gender equality.

In their opinion, the organized visits to Uzbekistan of UN special procedures mandate holders, in particular, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief A. Shahid and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers D. Garcia-Sayan, as well as the implementation of their recommendations, indicate a strong commitment Uzbekistan to ensure effective protection of human rights and freedoms. The comprehensive measures taken to eradicate forced and child labor, as well as to solve statelessness problems, received a positive assessment.

At the meeting, comments and questions were made by the Chairman of the Committee Ahmed Fatnalla (Egypt), members of the Committee Yahd Ben Ashur (Tunisia), Christopher Bulkan (Guyana), Marcia Kran (Canada), Duncan Muhuza-Laki (Uganda), Photini Pazartsis (Greece) and Cornflower Santsin (Slovenia).

The questions of the Committee members covered a wide range of topics related to the protection and promotion of civil and political human rights in Uzbekistan. In particular, they were interested in measures taken by the Government in such areas as the implementation of the recommendations of the HRC, the activities of the Ombudsman institution, conditions in prisons, the fight against corruption and discrimination, legal norms in the field of combating extremism, the registration of NGOs and religious organizations, and gender equality and domestic violence, the right to peaceful assembly, citizenship issues, the independence of the judiciary. The delegation of Uzbekistan in full provided answers to the questions of the Committee experts, as well as to their additional comments.

In addition, written answers to a number of additional questions of members of the HRC, as well as new legislative acts, decrees and resolutions of the President of Uzbekistan, and decisions of the Government were handed to the Secretariat of the HRC.

In general, a very intense interactive dialogue took place between the delegation of Uzbekistan and the experts of the Committee during the session. Members of the HR Committee thanked the delegation for its open and constructive approach to the discussion of the national report.

The delegation also held a separate meeting with the rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Committee, Andreas Zimmerman. During it, issues of interaction between the Committee were discussed in the framework of the follow-up procedure to implement the decisions of the Committee, according to which Uzbekistan regularly submits its answers.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1966 and entered into force in March 1976. There are 173 states party to the Convention. Uzbekistan acceded to the Convention on September 28, 1995.

The Human Rights Committee is a UN treaty body that monitors the implementation by member states of the norms of the ICCPR. Currently, the Committee includes 18 independent experts who are represented and operate in this body in their personal qualities.