On December 1948, 10, according to the resolution of the 3rd session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. In 1950, the United Nations decided to celebrate this day as Human Rights Day. The declaration is considered the fundamental basis of human rights and has been translated into more than 500 languages of the world.
Human rights are an important criterion that shows the level of democratic development of every country. Therefore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights became the first international legal document added after the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Because in this document, the right to life, freedom of speech and belief, and the right to peace of every person, regardless of race, gender, language, religion, political views, property, class or other status, are strengthened. .
The provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are reflected in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, national legislation that ensures reliable protection of political, economic, social and cultural rights and freedoms of a person. Today, Uzbekistan has ratified more than 80 international documents in the field of human rights and freedoms.
Here it should be noted that the promotion and protection of human rights in Uzbekistan is one of the priority directions of the state policy. In recent years, international standards on human rights have been systematically implemented in our country into national legislation and law enforcement practice, and work in this regard has reached a new level.
In particular, these reforms are reflected in the following.
Firstly, conceptual frameworks in the field of human rights have been improved. On June 2020, 22, the National Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Human Rights and the "Roadmap" for its implementation were also approved.
The strategy is aimed at increasing the effectiveness of openness and mutual cooperation of state authorities and management bodies, civil society institutions, mass media and private sector activities in the protection of personal, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Also, the Strategy includes freedom of religion, speech and opinion, access to information, non-discrimination, ensuring gender equality, equal access to quality education and medical services for all, children, youth, women, and disabilities. It envisages further improvement of the law enforcement practice in the areas of protection of the rights of persons and migrants.
Second, the institutional foundations of ensuring human rights and freedoms were completely revised.
In particular, the activities of the human rights representative (ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan have been radically improved. The positions of child rights representative and representative for the protection of the rights and legal interests of business entities under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan have been introduced.
In addition, the Parliamentary Commission on compliance with the international obligations of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of human rights was established in our country.
Third, the scope of work on ensuring gender equality, disabled people, and children's rights has expanded and their quality has increased. In particular, in order to further improve the legal basis for ensuring and protecting women's rights in Uzbekistan, "On guarantees of equal rights and opportunities for women and men" and "Protection of women from oppression and violence" laws were adopted. A new Women and Girls and Gender Equality Committee was established within the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
In 2021, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified, and according to it, the legal guarantees of equal rights of persons with disabilities, especially women and children's education, health care, and work, were strengthened.
Fourth, changes in citizenship and judicial system and introduction of new practices in these areas was a big step in ensuring human rights. In particular, the procedure for obtaining citizenship for stateless persons who have been permanently resident in Uzbekistan for 15 years has been established. As a result, about 70 people had the opportunity to automatically obtain the citizenship of Uzbekistan.
Also, a completely new system of pardoning and releasing individuals from punishment under the guaranty of public associations was introduced. As a result, the number of prisoners kept in places of deprivation of liberty decreased by 2,5 times.
The closure of the specialized penal colony located in the Jasliq fortress of the Republic of Karakalpakstan drew the attention of the international community.
Fifth, Uzbekistan relies on the principle of global cooperation in ensuring human rights and freedoms, and the introduction of international standards is becoming a priority. In this regard, in particular, the visits and proposals of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Religious Beliefs and the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers lost
In 2020, the Republic of Uzbekistan will become a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the first time and will be recognized by many international organizations, including the UN.
At this point, it should be noted that the head of our country, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in his holiday greetings to the people of Uzbekistan on the 29th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, also focused on the sphere of human rights and freedoms.
In particular, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan noted that in order to increase the efficiency of the current system for the protection of human rights, the issues of preventing child labor, reliable protection of the rights of the disabled and representatives of the elderly generation should also be reflected in the Constitution.
To sum up, the ongoing reforms serve to ensure more effective protection of human rights and interests, and the protection of certain rights is of constitutional importance. This, in turn, requires the creation of a system of organizational, legal and other complex measures aimed at eliminating the shortcomings of legislation and improving national legislation, ensuring the reliable protection of human rights and freedoms in connection with the fulfillment of international obligations on human rights. is enough.
Temur AHMEDOV,
under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Institute of Strategic and Interregional Studies department head
