CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 national preventive mechanism, and do not condition eligibility for participation in the expert group on affiliation with a registered non-governmental organization; (e) Take measures to ensure that members of the expert group are protected from intimidation and reprisals and have security of tenure apart from the ombudsman such that the appointment of a new ombudsperson would not result in their automatic dismissal; (f) Ensure that the national preventive mechanism is able to visit all places of deprivation of liberty, as set out in article 4 of the Optional Protocol, including all places where the State exercises effective control and other places that persons do not have the freedom to leave, and that State agencies are required to act on the recommendation of the envisaged monitoring mechanism and that any official who attempts to impede work of the monitoring mechanism is punished. National human rights institution 47. The Committee is further concerned that the national centre for human rights and the human rights commissioner of the Oliy Majlis (the ombudsman), are not in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) or accredited with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and that the office of the ombudsman lacks the human and financial resources to effectively carry out its mandate as a national human rights institution in all parts of the country (art. 2). 48. The State party should: (a) Strengthen the office of the ombudsman so that it can effectively carry out its mandate in all parts of the country, and provide it with adequate human, financial and institutional resources, in line with the Paris Principles, so that it can fully reflect the recommendations for accreditation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions; (b) Ensure the implementation of the ombudsman’s recommendations – including with respect to awards of redress to victims, the prosecution of perpetrators and the improvement of treatment and material conditions in places of deprivation of liberty – and publish his reports; (c) Ensure that the national centre for human rights functions effectively, reinforces protections under the international instruments to which Uzbekistan is a party and is in compliance with the Paris Principles. Redress 49. The Committee is concerned that while article 15 of the Civil Code allows courts to order compensation for the losses that are caused by State officials, this provision has to date not been applied to cases of torture. The Committee is concerned that the State party did not indicate whether victims of torture had received medical or psychosocial rehabilitation. The Committee is also concerned that the State party has not established a fund to assist victims of torture and ill-treatment (arts. 2 and 14). 50. The Committee reiterates its recommendation (CAT/C/UZB/CO/4, para. 20) that the State party should ensure that victims of torture and ill-treatment obtain redress, including the means for as full a rehabilitation as possible, as set out in its general comment No. 3 (2012). In particular, the State party should take measures to ensure that persons who have been released from detention following the change in Government are able to seek and obtain redress for torture and ill-treatment. Forced labour 51. Notwithstanding the measures resulting in the memorandum of understanding between Uzbekistan and ILO in 2017, and while welcoming the President’s public affirmation of the need to end forced labour in the cotton sector, the Committee remains concerned at reports that an estimated 170,000 adults were forced to work during the 2018 cotton harvest and that many individuals faced hazardous working conditions and substandard living conditions. In this regard, the Committee notes reports that prisoners of 12