E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.2 page 24 (s) Relatives of persons sentenced to death should be treated in a humane manner with a view to avoiding their unnecessary suffering due to the secrecy and uncertainty surrounding capital cases. It is further recommended that a moratorium be introduced on the execution of the death penalty and that urgent and serious consideration be given to the abolition of capital punishment; (t) The Government should give urgent consideration to closing Jaslyk colony which by its very location creates conditions of detention amounting to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment for both its inmates and their relatives; (u) All competent government authorities should give immediate attention and respond to interim measures ordered by the Human Rights Committee and urgent appeals dispatched by United Nations monitoring mechanisms regarding persons whose life and physical integrity may be at risk of imminent and irreparable harm; (v) The Government is invited to make the declaration provided for in article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment recognizing the competence of the Committee against Torture to receive and consider communications from individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of the provisions of the Convention, as well as to ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention, whereby a body shall be set up to undertake regular visits to all places of detention in the country in order to prevent torture. It should also invite the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders as well as the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to carry out visits to the country. 71. For purposes of follow-up assessment, the Special Rapporteur would appreciate it if the Government would make its views known on the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendations, possible at the next session of the Commission on Human Rights, and otherwise not later than 1 July 2003. Notes 1 Uzbekistan acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on 31 August 1995. 2 Article 104 (“premeditated grievous bodily harm”): “Premeditated infliction of bodily injury which is life-threatening at the moment of infliction, or which results in the loss of sight, speech, hearing or any organ or the complete loss of the function of an organ, psychological illness, or other damage to health combined with a permanent incapacity to work exceeding 33 per cent or leading to a premature pregnancy or an irreparable maiming of the body is punished by deprivation of liberty of three to five years.” 3 According to the Law on the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman is elected by the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) from amongst its deputies. She is independent from other State agencies and officials (art. 2), and has the right to initiate legislation.