E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.2 page 6 detention without charge can be extended up to 10 days for the purpose of preliminary investigation. Once charges are brought against a suspect, the latter is placed in an “isolator of temporary detention”, known by its Russian acronym IVS. 10. Upon arrival at the police station, an arrest protocol has to be drafted by the arresting officer and the arrested person is required to write an “explanation letter” in which s/he explains the reasons for and circumstances of the arrest. It is believed that this “explanation letter” may later be used as evidence in court. According to non-governmental sources, during this period detained persons must also sign a document stating that they have been informed of their rights. It is alleged that this document does not state what those rights are. Similarly, if a suspect decides to renounce his right to a lawyer, a document to that effect has to be signed in the presence of a lawyer. 11. Article 44 of the Constitution provides that each person enjoys the right to appeal to the court for redress of any illegal action by State agents. According to non-governmental sources, however, the Supreme Court stated in 1997 that this guarantee would not apply to the issue of the deprivation of liberty as the CPC already provides for sufficient procedural guarantees in that respect. While the Acting Chairman of the Supreme Court did not confirm or deny this information, he regretted that it was not the current practice to appeal to courts for redress in case of alleged arbitrary detention. The Special Rapporteur notes with regret that the right to habeas corpus - a fundamental guarantee against arbitrary detention - is thus not a part of Uzbek criminal proceedings, even if article 18 CPC provides that “[n]o one can be arrested or detained in custody if not on the grounds of a court decision or with the sanction of a procurator. The judge and the procurator have the duty to immediately release anyone illegally deprived of liberty …”. This provision may indeed be interpreted as guaranteeing the possible involvement of a court at the initial stage of deprivation of liberty, although it does not provide for a right to appeal to a court. It must however be noted that it was recognized by all interlocutors, including official ones, that in practice, all decisions regarding pre-trial detention are the sole purview of a procurator. Courts are said not to be involved at all at this preliminary stage of criminal proceedings. 2. Access to legal counsel 12. Article 48 CPC provides for the right to a legal counsel (“defender”) from the time the detainee is informed that s/he is suspected of a crime or from the moment he is “detained” (zadershanie). The meaning of this last word was subject to various interpretations by officials, interlocutors and legal practitioners; it is not clear whether it refers to the moment of arrest/apprehension, or to the moment charges are formally brought against a suspect. 13. Accordingly, article 49 CPC, which enumerates a list of persons who may act as a defender in a case, including close relatives with the approval of the investigator or the court, provides that “[t]he defender can act in the case when the citizen is informed of the charges or from the point when he is considered a suspect or from the moment of his detention”. It seems here that the word “detention” refers to the moment the charges are formally brought. This would then mean that a suspect has the right to a defender only after having been formally charged, i.e. after 3 or up to 10 days.