POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS central ASIA law enforcement officers. The training provided participants with the opportunity to analyse practical setbacks that counter-terrorism policing may face if implemented in violation of human rights, and to realize how, contrary to many assumptions, the observance of international human rights standards contributes to the overall effectiveness of such investigations. Prior to the training, in April, ODIHR carried out a pre-training needs assessment visit to Tashkent. Based on the results of this assessment, the course was tailored to the local context and needs. On 28 and 29 June, the PCUz supported the participation of representatives from the GPO, the MoI, the SSS, the Oliy Majlis, as well as judges of several courts in a Central Asian seminar held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on “Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes”. The event was organized by the TNTD/ATU in close co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan. Over 50 experts from Central Asia, international organizations, academia and the private sector participated in the seminar, together with representatives from the OSCE Secretariat and all five OSCE field operations based in Central Asia. The seminar facilitated discussions on issues, such as the applicable legal frameworks in Central Asian countries in countering the use of the internet for terrorist purposes, the use of open source intelligence, and the protection and recovery of forensic data in investigations of crimes related to the misuse of the internet by terrorists and violent extremist groups. On 9 and 10 October, the PCUz supported the participation of three experts from the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the SSS and the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications (MITC) in a high-level conference in Minsk, Belarus, on “Preventing and Countering Terrorism in the Digital Age”. At the conference, the Uzbek delegation acquainted itself with the implementation modalities of the OSCE framework against terrorism in the digital age, the importance of public-private partnerships, and the protection of critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks emanating from cyberspace. On 1 and 2 November, the PCUz supported the participation of a representative from the Committee for State Border Protection of the SSS and an expert from the MFA at the second OSCE-wide “Seminar on Passenger Data Exchange”, held in Vienna. The event focused on increasing participating States’ knowledge on international obligations related to border management, including UN Security Council Resolution 2396, and paid particular attention to the collection of passenger data and biometric information through the API and PNR systems while underlining the importance of information-sharing at the national and international levels. The PCUz supported their participation as part of its commitments under the project “Assisting the Republic of Uzbekistan in fighting against terrorism. Phase 2”. On 1 and 2 November, a pre-training needs assessment visit to Uzbekistan by a researcher of the Asia-Pacific Foundation based in the United States and two researchers of the Civil Initiative on Internet Policy (a Kyrgyzstan-based NGO) was organized by the PCUz, in close co-operation with the TNTD/ATU. During the visit, the experts met representatives of several embassies accredited in Uzbekistan, as well as a number of state and non-state agencies dealing with counterterrorism issues. The pre-training needs assessment forms part of the PCUz’s ongoing efforts to support the government in its fight against terrorism and extremism, activities which are currently undertaken within the framework of the project “Assisting the Republic of Uzbekistan in fighting against terrorism. Phase 2”. On 5 November, the implementation of a PCUz project supporting Uzbekistan in promoting human rights-compliant national counter-terrorism policies and building the country’s capacity to P/C VERLT was the focus of a co-ordination meeting of the Countering Terrorism Working Group, organized in Tashkent by the PCUz. The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss the planning of joint activities in 2019. The Countering Terrorism Working Group consists of eight experts from the Legislative (lower) Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the MFA, the MIA, the SSS and the GPO. On 6 and 7 November, a Regional Expert Working Group Meeting on the role of civil society in P/C VERLT was organized by the PCUz in Tashkent, in close co-operation with TNTD/ATU. The meeting served as a follow-up to the International Conference on the Role of Youth in P/C VERLT, held in Tashkent and Samarkand on 11 and 12 June, and built on the draft recommendations stemming from the conference. The aim of the meeting was to develop a good practice handbook on engaging civil society in P/C VERLT efforts. The meeting was attended by 33 key civil society experts, practitioners and researchers in the sphere of P/C VERLT in order to ensure context and relevance and to supplement the handbook with good examples and case studies. The meeting was organized within the framework of the project “Assisting the Republic of Uzbekistan in fighting against terrorism. Phase 2”. From 16 to 20 December, a study visit to Israel was organized by the PCUz in close co-ordination with the Embassy of Israel to Uzbekistan, focusing on further capacity-building for Uzbek stakeholders in the field of preventing and countering terrorism. Eight experts from the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the SSS, the MFA, the MoI, GPO, Committee for Religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic 141