Ombudsman reports 118 state officials held liable for human rights violations in 2025

According to the report, the Ombudsman’s office spent the past year investigating numerous complaints regarding physical and mental pressure exerted on prisoners by law enforcement personnel. These investigations prompted the initiation of 39 separate service inspections into the conduct of internal affairs officers. Beyond the four criminal cases, the administrative fallout included 13 officers facing disciplinary action, two dismissals from service, and one formal warning. Furthermore, the prosecutor's office overturned 12 prior decisions that had refused the initiation of criminal cases, mandating additional pre-investigation checks to ensure accountability.

Ombudsman Eshmatova noted that, in total, 118 employees of state organizations and law enforcement agencies were held disciplinarily, administratively, or criminally liable for human rights violations over the course of the year. To proactively prevent torture, officials conducted 954 monitoring visits to detention facilities, during which they held collective discussions with over 11,000 inmates and individual interviews with approximately 5,500 others. These visits resulted in 33 formal submissions and warnings sent to various ministries and departments to rectify identified shortcomings.

The Ombudsman's office received a total of 2,697 appeals from prisoners, their legal defenders, and close relatives in 2025, accounting for 10% of all incoming petitions. The monitoring efforts also led to the permanent closure of temporary detention facilities in the Chinoz, Kibray, and Yuqori Chirchiq districts of the Tashkent region. These facilities were shut down after they were found to be operating in direct violation of established sanitary and hygienic standards.