“[…] the SCA has also reviewed information indicating that the Ombudsman may not be effectively addressing all human rights issues. In particular, the SCA notes:
- In its January 2020 concluding observations, the Committee Against Torture expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the Ombudsman in discharging its mandate to monitor places of deprivation of liberty in respect of complaints related to sexual violence and the referral of allegations of torture to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (CAT/C/UZB/CO/5).
- In its 2019 concluding observations, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted that the Ombudsman reported not to have received any complaints on racial discrimination from citizens, foreign nationals or stateless persons, and any complaints regarding the provision of redress to victims of racial discrimination (CERD/C/UZB/CO/10-12)
The SCA notes that the Ombudsman has provided some information in its application about its activities in relation to torture and racial discrimination. In terms of the latter issue, the SCA notes that the Ombudsman indicated that, given that 90% of nationals are of ethnic Uzbek background, it had no concerns with racial discrimination in Uzbekistan.”