POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS central ASIA joint efforts to address illicit drug circulation and other related transnational organized crimes. Since 2016, the PCUz has been working to assist national authorities in promoting human rights-compliant national counter-terrorism policies and building the country’s capacity for P/C VERLT. In the field of THB, the PCUz supports the Inter-agency Anti-trafficking Commission and other governmental agencies and civil society representatives in strengthening their efforts to combat THB. Besides capacity-building, the PCUz focuses on establishing more systematic and sustainable efforts to counter THB through better co-ordination between police, health and social workers, and NGOs in the identification of trafficked persons and the protection of their human rights. Activities Related to General Police Development and Reform Police Development and Reform within Security Sector Reform On 14 February, the PCUz supported the participation of an Uzbek delegation at the Security Dialogue on SSG/R in the framework of a joint meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) and the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna. In the margins of the event, the Uzbek delegation met the OSCE Secretary General. At the meeting, the two sides discussed the state and prospects of relations between the OSCE and Uzbekistan. From 25 to 27 April, in Tashkent, a national seminar on “Effective Security Sector Governance and Reform (SSG/R)” for representatives of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the State Security Sector (SSS), the Supreme Court, the MoI, the GPO, the Academy of the Armed Forces, the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan, and the MFA was organized by the PCUz in co-operation with the FSC. At the three-day seminar, the participants were given an opportunity to increase their awareness of SSG/R and the OSCE’s approach to the concept, while also being stimulated to increase the synergies in SSG/R approaches between the different national security bodies. On 20 and 21 June, the PCUz organized a study visit to France for one senior official from the Presidential Administration and four representatives of the MoI Academy. The purpose of the event was to provide support to the MoI Academy through an exchange of experiences in training, retraining and professional improvement of specialists fighting against transnational threats. The study visit was organized as part of the PCUz project on “Assistance in Improvement of Staff Training System for Law Enforcement Bodies at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan”. From 29 to 31 October, protecting the rights of alleged victims and accused persons was the focus of a training course in Tashkent, attended by 24 police investigators from Tashkent and the Tashkent province and organized by the PCUz. The aim of the training was to enhance the investigators’ professional understanding of and commitment to international policing and investigative standards. Emphasis was placed on working within the framework of national and international laws on human rights-compliant policing, which uphold the presumption of innocence, prohibit the use of torture and oppressive practices, and protect the dignity of and the respect for witnesses and suspects at all stages of the investigative process. The training course was organized within the framework of the project, “Supporting the Ministry of Internal Affairs in enhancing professional capacities and skills of investigative divisions”. Human Rights and Police Accountability From 6 to 8 August, in Tashkent, a three-day workshop on the topic “Ratification and Implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT): international experience and foreign practices” was organized by the PCUz in co-operation with the National Human Rights Centre (NHRC) of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The event brought together a range of actors working on issues related to torture prevention, including representatives of the Oliy Majlis (parliament), State bodies and public organizations, to discuss the implications of OPCAT ratification and implementation. The workshop was led by international experts from the UN and the United Kingdom. It was 137