On 30 April 2024, the OSCE Programme Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz), in co-operation with the National Human Rights Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NHRC) and the country’s Interior Ministry, launched a four-day Training of Trainers (ToT) to promote human rights and torture prevention in places of detention.

The event was opened jointly by OSCE Project Co-Ordinator in Uzbekistan Ambassador Antti Karttunen; Akmal Saidov, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and Director of the NHRC; and Andrea Huber, Head of the Human Rights Department of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

“PCUz has provided capacity building to various governmental and civil society actors in Uzbekistan, and we stand ready to provide further support for implementation of the international obligations in the field of the human rights,” said Ambassador Karttunen in his opening remarks.

Representatives from 25 penitentiary institutions in the Tashkent region gained practical knowledge of the international standards for torture prevention and discussed ways to identify vulnerable inmates, to ensure individual needs are met and that ill treatment is prevented in places of detention.  

The training, which ends on 3 May, was organised within the framework of the PCUz project “Promoting Rule of Law, Human Rights and Media Freedom”.

OSCE