E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.2 page 44 authorities need to take vigorous measures to make such declarations credible and make clear that the culture of impunity must end. 190. According to information received from non-governmental sources, the Government of Uzbekistan has failed to make a public, high-level statement condemning the use of torture. Various public officials have grown more willing to discuss the problem of torture, particularly with an international audience, but have not made a clear declaration condemning torture to the Uzbek people in media accessible by the majority of the population. Further, the Government consistently denies the extent of the torture problem, calling cases of torture individual incidents and refusing to accept that torture is systematic. On 9 March 2003, the Government approved a “National Plan of Action to Implement the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” (the Plan). If fully implemented, the Plan has the potential to complement other reform efforts. As currently conceived, however, it is weak and does not make reference to the Special Rapporteur’s report or its recommendations and does little to implement them, despite earlier drafts in which the plan was referred to as a plan to implement the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations. The structure and content of the approved Plan are confusing; it is unclear which “actions” in the Plan correspond to which articles in the Convention against Torture, if in fact the Plan is designed to implement the Convention, or to which recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. This will make monitoring and evaluation of the success of the Plan difficult. Overall, the actions contained in the Plan are vague and are linked to unnecessarily attenuated timelines. The Plan focuses on round tables and conferences rather than on implementation of concrete reforms. Often, the relation of the particular action to the aim of reducing the use of torture is unclear. For example, action 4.4 of the Plan calls for organizing, some time in 2005, a round table to discuss the possibilities of the introduction of the institution of “plea bargaining”, in cases where defendants plead guilty and request a simplified review of the case. 200. The Government reported that it considers the fact that Uzbekistan invited the Special Rapporteur is a clear sign of its political will to eradicate torture. The elaboration of the National Action Plan that was subsequently put together by all concerned State bodies was reported on by national and international media. In March 2003 the Adviser to the President, at a meeting with the diplomatic community in Tashkent, stressed the intention of the Government to fight the use of torture and other inhumane treatment. Also, all other law enforcement structures condemned torture and other inhumane treatment. The Supreme Court on 19 December 2003 condemned the use of torture in criminal cases. The resolution of the Supreme Court “On the Practice of Courts Applying Laws Protecting Suspects and Accused Persons” draws the attention of investigators and judges to the necessity of respecting international and national human rights norms in their work. The resolution states that during an investigation the use of torture, violence, and any other inhumane or degrading treatment is forbidden. On 29 May 2004, at a meeting of law enforcement organs, this position was reiterated. At a meeting of the Ministry of the Interior on 22 May 2003 it was decided that any violation of legality in the work of the organs of Internal Affairs and any violation of human rights is impermissible. Following this meeting, on 24 June 2004, Ministry of the Interior Order No. 187, “On the Creation of a Central Commission on the Respect for Human Rights”, was issued, followed by a programme of measures aimed at strengthening the legality and respect for human rights. Equally, commissions were established at the territorial Ministry of the Interior departments and within its training institutions. These commissions report monthly to the Central Commission. At the Ministry of the Interior meeting any form of torture was condemned unequivocally and it was made clear that the Ministry