Uzbekistan:Report submitted to the Committee Against Torture

The Republic of Uzbekistan ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on September 28th 1995. During its 28th session (29 April – 17 May 2002), the United Nations Committee against Torture is going to review the second periodical report submitted by Uzbekistan on the measures it has taken to implement the CAT. The review and the constructive dialogue conducted by the Committee will therefore look at issues relevant to the implementation of the CAT for the period going from November 1999 to April 2002.

States Party to the CAT shall submit “reports on the measures they have taken to give effect to their undertaking under this Convention” to the Committee against Torture.1 Article 2 of the CAT recognises that “each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction”. The term “other measures” can therefore clearly contemplate steps taken by the State Party to address the socio-economic context. Indeed, as this report will highlight, issues related with poverty and

the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is all too relevant with issues falling directly and immediately within the Committee’s mandate.