HUMAN RIGHTS Ms. Feruza Khaytmuratova (l) from the Ombudsperson’s Central Office, Ms. Lola Saidmukhamedova (c), Member of the Expert Group under the Ombudsperson’s Representative in Tashkent city and Mr. Sardor Muminov (r), Officer of the Human Rights Protection Department of the Ministry of Interior at training on torture prevention in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 24 July. OSCE/Snježana Bokulić and Tajikistan aimed at strengthening the protection of victims of trafficking and vulnerable groups in Central Asia. In November in Istanbul, ODIHR organized a regional roundtable and a practical seminar for lawyers on access to justice for trafficked persons and co-operation mechanisms between state authorities and civil society. The roundtable gathered representatives of law-enforcement agencies, judiciaries, national anti-trafficking co-ordinating bodies, NHRIs and civil society organizations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The practical seminar on legal counselling and assistance gathered 15 legal practitioners involved in litigating cases concerning trafficking in human beings from the five Central Asian participating States. As a part of its efforts aimed at ensuring human rights safeguards in the return of trafficked persons to their countries of origin, in September, ODIHR launched its Guiding Principles on Human Rights in the Return of Trafficked Persons. The Guiding 48 ODIHR Annual Report 2014 Principles are intended for use by state authorities and civil society, as well as inter-governmental organizations that are involved in developing, applying, evaluating and reforming national laws, policies and practices related to the return of trafficked persons. Torture and other Ill-treatment In April, the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship and ODIHR organized a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting to provide a forum for discussions on the prevention of torture and the opportunity to take stock of relevant developments in the OSCE region. The meeting brought together officials from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation, and representatives of civil society organizations, OSCE field presences, intergovernmental organizations and of other relevant actors. The meetings was preceded by a Civil Society ­Forum, organized jointly by ODIHR, the Swiss OSCE