A/HRC/44/47/Add.3 State programme of 2020) defines priority tasks in ensuring the rule of law and further reforming the judicial and legal system, in particular: • Introducing, as from 1 May 2020, a procedure under which the prosecutor is allowed to request cases from the court in which sentences, decisions, judgements or rulings of the court have entered into legal force, only if the parties (with the exception of the prosecutor) apply for such a request; • Reforming the appeal and cassation instances until 1 November 2020, abolishing the institution of supervisory review proceedings of the Supreme Court in order to improve access to justice; • Transferring, as from 1 December 2020, the powers to review cases of administrative offenses to the competence of criminal courts. • Drafting of a new version of the law “On Courts”, legislation regulating the activities of the judiciary and providing for amendments and additions to the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Administrative Liability, aimed at strengthening guarantees of the rights of citizens. 7. In order to ensure a broad discussion of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur represented during his meetings with government agencies, the judiciary and lawyers, the National Centre of Human Rights, together with the Supreme Court, the Supreme Judicial Council and other organisations, held a number of events with the participation of the judicial community, representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic corps accredited in Tashkent, as well as representatives of civil society. 8. We hereby present the comments of the Government of Uzbekistan on certain points of the report of the Special Rapporteur, aimed at clarifying and specifying some of its provisions. I. Introduction Persecution of “civil activists” 9. In order to ensure a complete, comprehensive and objective consideration of the information of the Special Rapporteur on the persecution of civil activists by the prosecutor's office of the city of Fergana, a preliminary investigation was carried out with the participation of G. Mamatkhanov and D.Madaliev. According to D. Madaliev, on 21 September 2019, he was a participant in the event at the “Asia Hotel” in Ferghana, where a meeting of civil activists and the UN Special Rapporteur D. Garcia-Sayan was held. After the event, when leaving the “Asia Hotel”, he talked with his former colleagues from the Main Internal Affairs Department of Ferghana,E. Khaidamatov and D. Khoshimov, who were probably involved in ensuring public safety in connection with the event. Meanwhile, according to D. Madaliev, none of the law enforcement officers questioned him or demanded any explanation about his participation in the meeting with the Special Rapporteur, and he was not subjected to any pressure from the law enforcement agencies. 10. In turn, G. Mamatkhanov also explained that on 21 September 2019, he was a participant in the event at the “Asia Hotel” in Ferghana, where a meeting of civil activists and UN Special Rapporteur D. Garcia-Sayan was held. After the event, when leaving the “Asia Hotel”, he saw a friend, who was an officer of criminal investigation department of the Main Internal Affairs Department of Ferghana named “Rustam” and two other employees unknown to him, who were at the time near the hotel. He only greeted them, after which he got into a taxi and went to his home. After a while, one of his acquaintances, whose name he does not want to disclose, told him that the criminal investigation officers in another car accompanied him home and this incident will be discussed at the international conference on human rights in Geneva in March 2020. However, G. Mamatkhanov cannot claim that he was chased by law enforcement officers or other persons along the entire route to his home. During the pre-investigation check, G. Mamatkhanov and D. Madaliev did not provide any other concrete facts about pressure or interference of law enforcement officials in their human 3