Poetry from Lan Xin

Good Days

Poem by Lan Xin

Internationally renowned writer, poet and translator, member of the Chinese Writers Association. The only female inheritor of UNESCO-listed Dongba Culture, International Disseminator of Dongba Culture and practitioner of Chinese culture’s global outreach. Winner of the Italian Francesco Giampietri International Literary Award, President of Lanxin Samei Academy and Dean of Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy.

What makes a day good

Some live in the perfection the world admires

Yet grow numb in ease

Forgetting how to feel

Some walk through simplicity and toil

Yet find joy in the mundane

And peace in contentment

A good day

is never defined by what you have

but lit by how your heart perceives

When gratitude dwells within

and you cherish all before you

when you love life deeply

with tenderness with contentment

with a heart that knows how to love

Then every single day

becomes a day that shines

Poetry from Daniela Chourio-Soto

The smells I have lost

The roads that used to be the day to day
now feel surreal,
like a dream that passed too quickly.

But I still feel under fingerprints
the old fabrics of the table and bed,
the ants waiting for bread crumbs,
and the smell of coffee in the morning.
I miss it, a little,
The soft touch of your face
and its warm comfort.

“But only a little” says my mind,
which barely remembers
the burning sun,
the cold esmerald floor
and white ceiling.

“Feel it again” says my heart desperately,
which only felt
the easy warmth,
the heat of a hug,

and a lost voice.

“I miss everything” says my nose,
to which everything
seems new
and distant:
the roads,
the coffee,
the fabrics,
and your scent.

Short story from Bill Tope

Stephen Miller Dishes the Dirt on the Controversial New Trump Arch

On Friday, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller met with reporters to give the low down on the proposed Donald J. Trump Independence Arch. Comparisons with the world famous Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, have led to designating the new arch as the Arc de Trump.

Miller drew parallels between the French arch and the Trump Monument. To begin with, the Arc de Triomphe was conceived in 1806, after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes.

Trump’s arch will mark a victory as well, said Miller. “It will celebrate The Dear Leader’s victory over the goddamned Democrat Party,” shouted Miller, interviewed at the construction site of the proposed monument, on a Washington roundabout across from the Lincoln Memorial.

Asked if the design had been finalized, Miller grew cagey and said that the “final dimensions could change at any moment.” Although the proposed Arc de Trump, at 250 feet, is almost 90 feet taller than the Arc de Triomphe, Miller called attention to the Gateway Arch, built in the mid-1960s.

Originally known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and erected along the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, it was built to mark the expedition of Lewis & Clark in 1804.

“The St. Louis Arch,” snarled Miller, grinding his teeth, “is effin’ 630 feet tall and somehow it doesn’t seem right that the president’s arch should be smaller. I mean, who the hell were Lewis & Clark and Thomas Jefferson anyway?”

Miller said he has become quite an expert on arches over the past year that consideration has been given to the project. He explained that the Paris arch is a typical triumphal arch, which is a monumental, free-standing archway. It often spans a road. It’s origins date to ancient Roman architecture.

The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Miller explained, is built in the form of a weighted catenary arch. It is the world’s tallest arch, a fact which does not sit well with Miller. Miller has chosen a different template for the Arc de Trump.

“Our arch,” boasted Miller, “will be modeled after the Golden Arches in the McDonald’s restaurant logo. While McDonald’s dropped the physical arches from nearly all of its restaurants many years ago, the Golden Arches have remained in the logo, and as a commonly understood term for the company.”

President Trump has a well known fondness for McDonald’s sandwiches. Miller went into greater detail about the origins of McDonald’s arches. “The McDonald’s logo was established in the 1960s on advice from psychologist Louis Cheskin.

“Cheskin likened the arches to ‘mother McDonald’s breasts,’ invoking Freudian elements for consumers. President Trump is very much into female breasts,” declared Miller proudly.

And whereas the Arc de Triompe is composed of limestone, and  the St. Louis Arch is made from stainless steel, here again Trump opts to be different. “The Arc de Trump,” said Miller, “will be made of gold.”

He hastened to add that it would not be gold through and through, but rather, gold-plated. If the final version of the Arc de Trump is in fact equal in size to the Gateway Arch, then it will require some 3,840 pounds of pure gold.

And with gold running to $29,560 per pound, this means that gold-plating the arch will cost $1.13 billion and change. “It will all be paid for by GOP donors,” Miller hastened to add, “so it won’t cost the American citizens a penny.” Miller was asked if possible vandalism of the gold-plated monument was a concern.

“Got it covered,” snapped Miller, pausing to point and laugh at a stray dog that was run over by an ICE vehicle on Memorial Drive. Miller immediately came back to Earth, describing in detail the turrets which will be appended to the arch. “Sharpshooters will take care of any mischief makers,” he said soberly.

As the press event began to wind down, Miller noted that the Arc de Triomphe has a staircase extending to the top of the French monument. “There are 284 steps leading upwards,” said Miller, who went on to say that the Arc de Triomphe would have not stairs, but a golden escalator to the top. “First class all the way,” boasted the Reichsfuhrer, crushing an anthill under his jackboot.

Poetry from Tanja Vučićević

I WANDERED – Tanja Vučićević, Serbia 

I set out with my heart, slowly toward the west.

I paused — I survived a heavy attack.

Where to go next: north or south?

I see no path! I am lost in an enchanted circle.

I am breaking, while my soul plows on like a field.

I ask myself: “Why does the roar of life torment me?”

I turn around and cast my gaze toward the east;

and I pray not to lose my way again.

The night is deaf! In the east I await my salvation;

I hear, I feel — the voice of God is calling me.

Poetry from Donna Dallas

Small Girl Big Devil

As quiet as I was 

your silence devoured me

I was spit into bits 

fed to pigeons

given a lollipop for this cross 

and left on someone’s door

who didn’t like children

so I became a woman

overnight 

in a back alley 

and you looked at your work 

said thy will be done

and fell into deep slumber 

as I crawled away in shame 

Monsters are made 

not born 

there’s still a monster under my bed 

I hear it deep within the empty night 

when dreams play tricks 

and lovers stop 

loving 

The morning so futile 

where I attempt to redeem 

us 

under the blood sun that rises 

over the arch of our terrace 

that hasn’t been used in decades 

and never will 

Since the city has climaxed 

we are spent within her

Alive 

but dead with guilt 

and old with fear 

Yet 

we sit together

numbly silent 

as a tomb

In Poison We Began

Your breath a siphon

of everything me

those late nights 

we plodded through our deadlands 

as vacant as the wind 

your lips a poison 

never matched 

(and we choose our poisons delicately)

Some burst of cosmic gases

from an unnamed planet 

as it flew apart 

fused us 

there isn’t a fiber 

between our skin 

our poison combined 

threaten

all the surroundings 

When I slink out 

from our skin 

I witness us

white and wrinkled 

posed as humans 

we glow toxic blue

in the moonlight 

We fold back

into each other’s poison

scrimmage until the moon

dies 

because we can’t ever 

leave pure things alone 


Sweet Darlings

There was something off

in my mother 

I’m sure I realized this at a young age

We salt our own wounds

to go back and revisit in some nostalgic way 

never does any good 

There’s a heroic bend to events 

we escaped from 

or got out of unscathed 

but it is bent and strange 

hope can be quiet rage in youth…..in the meek 

There are outliers for reasons 

back then I skirted darkness 

it was so natural 

to turn into those monsters 

the same ones I was born to

and some of us morph 

to become a hybrid 

pulling some old dark legacy 

along with a new creeping addiction

I don’t have to call up the dead

to ensure I’m awake nights 

I’ve been awake for decades 

fearing some floating stigma 

that will get me 

at some future point 

If there’s something off in me

the root goes deep 

my road went dark aways ago

I cry forward 

Kitty

The wind ever so lightly rustles the trees

there’s an egg in the blue jay’s nest

Kitty lights a Newport

blows that mint smoke straight into

the fresh morning air

we sit

sludgy and bent

ogle the simple shit

as if life never existed before

the blue egg

before martyrdom

Christ

dinosaurs

it’s all new today

cuz we heeled she says

Kitty coughs

deep and chunky

phlegm flows

over her lips

she wipes her mouth with a tissue

her potbelly ever so round

tits sag down 

while gravity sucks at her nipples

I light a Marlboro

nothin left to fear

that ain’t already spooked us

the egg

divine and speckly

imperfect

yet so pure

can’t take my eyes off it

almost the color 

of a Tiffany giftbox

Kitty grunts

asks who Tiffany is

I just want the egg to open at its time

without a hungry predator lurking

I want that baby blue jay for my own

some dormant motherhood beam

creeks in my dead womb

as if to ask

what happened to the many eggs

I’ve scrambled at the predator’s foaming jowls

A singular cry from the momma blue jay

the mother’s moan 

dates back to Mary

some invisible clock

that stops a heart

when necessary

as written in the Torah 

and we’ll come to it

Hole (For M.M.)

Your Frankenstein chariot

pieced together

from many dead Harleys

The rides to the beach

salt air sprayed us

from both sides of the bridge

and it was a freedom so epic

it engulfed us

Glittered eyelids

black leather

lust like dogs

hunger eats like a hole

we ain’t filling in this life

The bike on the boardwalk

us

staring into a future

we were unable to feed

sucking at the pure moment 

of innocence and death

too naive to know the difference

Boardwalk now is cracked

ripped and busted up

from the many storms 

I walk it alone from time to time

hungry to get to the point

That tipping point

when you and I meet 

as ghosts

Short story from Abdel Iatif Moubarak

Abdel latif Moubarak
Egypt

“Layla the Nightingale” did not walk on the ground; she floated on red carpets that stretched from Cairo to the capitals of mist and beauty. On those nights, the Grand Opera House would tremble before she even stepped on stage. The scent of luxury incense mingled with her French perfume, a fragrance crafted exclusively for her.


When she raised her hand, thousands fell silent. When she sang, that silence became sacred. The headlines read: “Layla, the Woman Who Stole the Throat of Angels.” She never imagined that this applause, which sounded like winter thunder, could ever fade.
It began with a simple rasp, which doctors dismissed as exhaustion. But Layla knew something was breaking inside. The hoarseness wasn’t just in her voice; it was in her soul. A “young producer” arrived with loud, rhythmic beats, and the public’s taste began to shift.


She told her manager coldly, “The audience doesn’t betray, darling; they are just being temperamental.” But when she stood for her final grand concert, she saw empty seats in the back rows. Those seats looked like black holes waiting to swallow her history whole.
Events accelerated like falling dominoes. A failed marriage to a businessman stripped her of half her fortune before he vanished. Tax cases piled up like dust on her old crowns. She was forced to sell her villa in Zamalek, then her Mercedes—the car the city streets knew by heart.


She moved to a small apartment in a crowded neighborhood, keeping her silk dresses in battered leather suitcases. She still wore bright red lipstick when she opened the door for the electricity collectors, as if she were receiving a press delegation.
The turning point came at a second-rate nightclub where she was forced to sing to pay her rent. She stood under a flickering neon light. She tried to reach that high note that used to shake hearts, but what came out was a strangled, wounded cry—the sound of a dying bird.
A drunkard in the hall laughed and shouted, “Give it up, lady! Your time is over!” The microphone fell from her hand, and there was no one there to catch it.


Two years passed. The phone stopped ringing. The friends who used to crowd her dressing room were suddenly struck by a collective amnesia. Resources dried up, and she was evicted from her apartment.
She walked out with a single suitcase containing one dress encrusted with fake crystals and a few black-and-white photographs showing kings and presidents applauding a woman who looked like her, but whom she no longer recognized.


The street has no mercy for those accustomed to silk carpets. On her first night under the Qasr al-Nil Bridge, she watched the Nile—the river she once sang to as the “Source of Goodness.” Now, the Nile looked like a black beast lurking for the lonely.
She lay on a piece of cardboard and covered her face with an old shawl. She didn’t sleep; she listened to the footsteps of passersby, terrified someone might recognize her… and even more terrified that no one would.


As the months went by, Layla’s features changed. Gray invaded the hair that once shone like a summer night, and the hands that were once kissed in high society became cracked and rough. She became “the crazy woman” who sat by the metro station.
She would sing in a very low voice—indistinct humming. People would drop coins in her lap out of pity for a “beggar,” never realizing that the hand taking the spare change was the same one that had received the highest medals of art.
One day, a luxury car pulled up in front of her. A young singer stepped out—the current “Number One” star. He wore sunglasses to hide his face. He placed a large banknote in her hand without looking at her.


Layla looked at his face and remembered him as a child who was once in her musical troupe. She wanted to call his name, to say, “It’s me, Layla, my son,” but her tongue had grown used to silence, and the pride remaining in her ashes held her back.
On a bitterly cold winter night, Layla felt the curtain was about to fall. She couldn’t feel her limbs, but her throat suddenly regained its old purity. She stood in the middle of the empty street at midnight.


She began to sing her most beautiful song, “Farewell to My Dreams.” Her voice echoed through the alleys of Downtown, powerful and resonant, as if she were back at the Opera. Residents opened their windows in amazement: “Who is this angelic voice in the dead of night?” But Layla wasn’t singing for the living; she was singing for the sky.
In the morning, they found an old woman lying peacefully on the pavement. She was smiling, holding a faded old photograph of a woman glowing under the spotlights.


No one knew who she was. She was taken away in an ambulance as an “unidentified body.” That evening, a radio in a nearby café played her famous song: “I am the one who never dies… I remain in your hearts,” while her body was being laid to rest in a pauper’s grave—far from the lights, and very close to the truth.

Essay from Аshurоvа Dinоrа Аnvаrqul qizi 

THE RОLE ОF THE NАTIОNАL CENTER FОR HUMАN RIGHTS IN IMPLEMENTING DECISIОNS ОF UN TREАTY BОDIES.

Tаshkent Stаte University оf Lаw 

Mаster’s student in Mediа Lаw 

Аshurоvа Dinоrа Аnvаrqul qizi 

Аbstrаct: This аrticle exаmines the mechаnisms fоr implementing cоncluding оbservаtiоns аnd decisiоns аdоpted by UN treаty bоdies аt the nаtiоnаl level. The reseаrch fоcuses оn the rоle оf Nаtiоnаl Humаn Rights Institutiоns (NHRI), specificаlly the Nаtiоnаl Center оf the Republic оf Uzbekistаn fоr Humаn Rights, in this prоcess. The аrticle аnаlyzes institutiоnаl mоdels fоr implementing internаtiоnаl recоmmendаtiоns intо nаtiоnаl legislаtiоn. Relying оn the “Pаris Principles”, the аuthоr reveаls the Nаtiоnаl Center’s functiоn аs а “bridge” between stаte bоdies аnd internаtiоnаl оrgаnizаtiоns. Аs а result оf the study, scientific prоpоsаls fоr imprоving the mоnitоring system fоr the implementаtiоn оf treаty bоdy decisiоns аre put fоrwаrd.

Keywоrds: UN treаty bоdies, institute, mechаnism, Nаtiоnаl Center, implementаtiоn, humаn rights, mоnitоring, cоncluding оbservаtiоns, nаtiоnаl mechаnism, “hard law”, “soft law”, “Follow-up”. 

MАVZU: BMT SHАRTNОMАVIY ОRGАNLАRI QАRОRLАRINI АMАLGА ОSHIRISHDА INSОN HUQUQLАRI BО‘YICHА MILLIY MАRKАZNING О‘RNI.

Tоshkent dаvlаt yuridik universiteti

ОАV huquqi mutаxаssisligi mаgistrаnti

Аshurоvа Dinоrа Аnvаrqul qizi. 

Аnnоtаtsiyа: Ushbu mаqоlаdа Birlashgan Millаtlаr Tаshkilоti (keyingi о‘rinlаrdа BMT) shаrtnоmаviy оrgаnlаri tоmоnidаn qаbul qilingаn yаkuniy mulоhаzаlаr vа qаrоrlаrni milliy dаrаjаdа ijrо etish mexаnizmlаri tаdqiq qilingаn. Tаdqiqоt mаrkаzidа Insоn huquqlаri bо‘yichа milliy institutlаrning (NHRI), xususаn, Insоn huquqlаri bо‘yichа О‘zbekistоn Respublikаsi Milliy mаrkаzining (keyingi о‘rinlаrdа Milliy mаrkаz) ushbu jаrаyоndаgi о‘rni yоtаdi. Mаqоlаdа xаlqаrо tаvsiyаlаrni milliy qоnunchilikkа implementаtsiyа qilishning institutsiоnаl mоdellаri tаhlil qilinаdi. Muаllif “Pаrij prinsiplаri”gа tаyаngаn hоldа, Milliy mаrkаzning dаvlаt оrgаnlаri vа xаlqаrо tаshkilоtlаr о‘rtаsidаgi “kо‘prik” sifаtidаgi funksiyаsini оchib berаdi. Tаdqiqоt nаtijаsidа shаrtnоmаviy оrgаnlаr qаrоrlаrini аmаlgа оshirishning mоnitоring tizimini tаkоmillаshtirish bо‘yichа ilmiy tаkliflаr ilgаri surilgаn.

Kаlit sо‘zlаr: BMT shаrtnоmаviy оrgаnlаri, institut, mexаnizm, Milliy mаrkаz, implementаtsiyа, insоn huquqlаri, mоnitоring, yаkuniy mulоhаzаlаr, milliy mexаnizm, “hard law”, “soft law”, “Follow-up”. 

ТЕМА: РОЛЬ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО ЦЕНТРА ПО ПРАВАМ ЧЕЛОВЕКА В ВЫПОЛНЕНИИ РЕШЕНИЙ ДОГОВОРНЫХ ОРГАНОВ ООН.

Ташкентский государственный юридический университет

Магистрант по специальности права СМИ

Ашурова Динора Анваркуловна.

Аннотация: В данной статье рассматриваются механизмы реализации на национальном уровне заключительных замечаний и решений, принятых договорными органами Организации Объединенных Наций (далее – ООН). Исследовательский центр фокусируется на роли национальных правозащитных учреждений (НПИ), в частности, Национального центра по правам человека Республики Узбекистан (далее – Национальный центр), в этом процессе. В статье анализируются институциональные модели имплементации международных рекомендаций в национальное законодательство. На основе «Парижских принципов» автор раскрывает функцию Национального центра как «моста» между государственными органами и международными организациями. В результате исследования выдвигаются научные предложения по совершенствованию системы мониторинга выполнения решений договорных органов.

Ключевые слова: договорные органы ООН, институт, механизм, национальный центр, осуществление, права человека, мониторинг, заключительные замечания, национальный механизм, «жесткое право», «мягкое право», «последующие действия».

INTRODUCTION. In the contemporary international legal order, the system of human-rights protection is shifting from purely declarative documents to practical mechanisms capable of producing tangible results. Decisions and recommendations adopted by United Nations treaty bodies serve as a “mirror” of member states’ international obligations in the field of human rights. However, the extent to which these “soft law” instruments (i.e., documents of a recommendatory character) are effectively implemented at the national level depends directly on the activities of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). In the context of Uzbekistan, the National Centre is emerging as the key coordinating body responsible for integrating these decisions into the national legal system.

To understand the essence of the research topic more deeply, it is first necessary to pay attention to the etymology of the concepts “institution” and “mechanism”:

“Institution” (from Latin institutum) denotes an apparatus, establishment, order, or custom. Originally this term conveyed the meaning of “to establish” or “to set up” something. In a legal context, institution refers not only to a building or organization, but also to a system of rules and norms that regulate stable social relations. Therefore, an institutional analysis of the National Centre allows us to view it not merely as an agency, but as a “constellation of arrangements designed to establish a human-rights culture.”

“Mechanism” (from Greek mēchanē) means a device or apparatus. Etymologically, a mechanism denotes the movement of parts that are organically interconnected in order to achieve a certain result. The phrase “national implementation mechanism” implies that state organs, legislation, and monitoring processes must function as a single, coherent whole, operating “like a clock” with precise internal coordination.

In the annex to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 23 June 2020, “On Approval of the National Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Field of Human Rights,” existing shortcomings in the human-rights sphere at the national level are identified. Findings obtained from analyzing the current situation in the human-rights field in the country, as well as the systematic analysis of recommendations issued within the framework of the United Nations treaty bodies, special rapporteurs who have visited Uzbekistan, the Universal Periodic Review, and other international mechanisms, indicate that in order to ensure effective protection of human rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests, democratic reforms in this sphere must be deepened and consistently continued.

  • First, it is necessary to establish mechanisms for ensuring the protection of human rights and legitimate interests, and to eliminate legal gaps in the implementation of international human-rights standards into national legislation and the practice of law enforcement.
  • Second, clear mechanisms for implementing human-rights-related activities by state-governance bodies and civil-society institutions in a spirit of cooperation have not yet been developed. In addition, the system of parliamentary and public oversight over the adequate implementation of Uzbekistan’s international human-rights obligations needs further improvement.
  • Third, it is necessary to bring the activities of state-power and governance bodies in the field of human rights under clear legal regulation, adopt required programmatic documents in this area, and define a precise procedure for their development and implementation.
  • Fourth, it is essential to expand the practice of applying norms of international human-rights treaties in the decisions of courts and law-enforcement bodies, to improve the monitoring system for the observance of the rights of persons held in pre-trial detention facilities and places of deprivation of liberty, and to develop clear mechanisms for implementing the recommendations of treaty-body committees.
  • Fifth, it is required to strengthen guarantees for the protection of an individual’s civil, economic, social, political, and cultural rights and freedoms, including by intensifying responsibility for violations of these rights.
  • Sixth, it is necessary to systematically foster a culture of respect for human rights and freedoms in society, and to professionally support judges, law-enforcement personnel, and other state-body employees by systematically improving their capacity and training on human-rights issues, so as to ensure full implementation of the recommendations of international and regional mechanisms.

At the same time, in order to further reform the activities of the National Centre, the Presidential Decree No. PQ-4056 “On Improving the Activities of the National Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Field of Human Rights,” effective from 11 December 2018, and the Presidential Decree No. PQ-46 “On Approval of the National Education Programme in the Field of Human Rights,” effective from 8 February 2023, were adopted. These documents are regarded as fundamental foundations that turn the system of human-rights protection in Uzbekistan from a purely theoretical framework into practical mechanisms. From the standpoint of institutionalism theory, their significance can be analyzed as follows:

  • Decree No. PQ-4056 – Establishing the primacy of the National Centre

The 2018 Decree re-defined the National Centre as the single, central coordinating body of the state in the field of human rights:

  • Institutional strengthening: The Centre was granted not only monitoring powers, but also the authority to provide binding, mandatory recommendations to state bodies on human rights. This transformed the “building” into a real-life institution endowed with substantive powers.
  • Bridge to the UN: The Decree formally designated the Centre as the principal national representative for cooperation with United Nations treaty bodies and other international organizations.
  • Accountability: A clear procedure (set of “rules of the game”) was established for collecting and systematizing human-rights-related reports submitted by state bodies.
  • Decree No. PQ-46  “Protection through Knowledge” (Education Programme)

Signed on 7 February 2023 and entering into force on 8 February 2023, this document is regarded as the “educational layer” of human-rights reforms.

  • Institutionalizing society: In order for human rights not to remain mere text on paper, society needs a form of “legal immunity.” The National Education Programme approved by this Decree aims at teaching human rights to all categories of state officials and different segments of the population.
  • Training professional cadres: A systematic training system for law-enforcement bodies and the judiciary, based on United Nations standards, has been introduced. This reduces errors in the implementation of UN decisions caused by the “human factor.”

The adoption of Decree No. PQ-4056 and Decree No. PQ-46 indicates that a comprehensive national system for fulfilling Uzbekistan’s international obligations in the field of human rights has been created. While the first document strengthens the institutional structure (the “framework”), the second ensures the content-related and educational sustainability of that structure.

Although the legal foundations for cooperation with United Nations treaty bodies have been established in Uzbekistan, the need remains to further enhance the National Centre’s institutional competences and monitoring methods for implementing international decisions at the national level. The purpose of this article is therefore to reveal the institutional nature of the National Centre and to analyze its participation in the implementation of United Nations decisions through the lens of a new theoretical model.

In modern legal and political scholarship, the concept of “institution” carries a meaning far broader than that of a physical infrastructure or a mere building. As Douglas North, one of the pioneers of institutionalism theory and a Nobel laureate in economics, emphasized, “Institutions are the rules of the game in a society, shaping the patterns of human interaction.”

METHODS. Applying the outlined institutional-theoretical model, an analysis of the National Centre enables us to uncover its essence at three levels:

  • Sum of formal rules (Formal constraints) The National Centre is not merely an administrative unit composed of staff and office space, but rather a normative-legal system oriented toward the implementation of the international treaty obligations of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Its internal regulations, monitoring procedures, and reporting mechanisms function as “legal channels” that “import” decisions and recommendations of United Nations treaty bodies (for example, the Human Rights Committee) into the domestic legal order and thereby concretize international obligations into national practice. 
  • Institutional “bridge” function (“Bridge” Model). Drawing on Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks’s socialization theory, states internalize and implement international norms most effectively not only under external pressure, but when domestic institutions assimilate those norms as part of their own institutional logic. In this sense, the National Centre operates as an institutional “bridge” between the global human-rights order and local practices: it mediates international standards (BMT treaty-body decisions, UPR recommendations, soft-law instruments), translates them into domestic procedures, and embeds them into the behavior of state organs and civil-society actors. This twofold perspective-viewing the Centre both as a system of formal constraints and as a social-institutional bridge-provides a richer framework for analyzing its role in the implementation of United Nations decisions and the broader institutionalization of an international human-rights culture in Uzbekistan.

Within this process, the National Centre:

  • Performs the role of a transformer that converts the UN’s “soft law” into national “hard law”: it acts as a key node that channels the non-binding, recommendatory character of UN treaty-body decisions (“soft law”) into binding domestic instruments such as Presidential decrees and resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers (“hard law”).

In other words, the National Centre functions not only as a monitor and coordinator, but as an institutional converter that re-codifies international guidance into concrete, enforceable national legal and administrative acts, thereby operationalizing BMT-level recommendations in Uzbekistan’s domestic legal order.

  • In the perspective of institutional design and independence (“The Logic of Design”), the way in which a human-rights institution is evaluated depends not on how modern its building is, but on how far it is designed in accordance with international standards (the Paris Principles). The National Centre’s interactions with UN treaty bodies and its participation in national law-making show its functional institutionalization.

In summary, an institutional analysis of the National Centre shows that it functions as a dynamic system transforming international standards in the field of human rights into everyday national practice, rules, and obligations of state bodies. As the classical representative of institutionalism theory, D. North emphasizes, institutions are understood as systems of rules that shape social interactions. From this perspective, the National Centre for Human Rights is not merely an administrative structure or a building, but a system of formal arrangements designed to integrate the decisions of United Nations treaty bodies into the national legal order. 

According to the approach of R. Goodman and D. Jinks, such institutions carry out a “socialization” function, embedding international norms into domestic legal and political practice. This, in turn, ensures that United Nations recommendations are not reduced to mere paper commitments, but are transformed into real, functioning national mechanisms.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The practical mechanisms of the National Centre for the implementation of decisions of United Nations treaty bodies. The National Centre’s institutional activities in ensuring the implementation of “Concluding Observations” issued by UN treaty‑body organs (for example, the Human Rights Committee or the Committee against Torture) are manifested at three main stages:

  • Developing national action plans (“roadmaps”);

United Nations bodies’ recommendations are often of a general nature. The National Centre is regarded as the key body responsible for converting these recommendations into the legal system of Uzbekistan. Once UN recommendations are received, the National Centre develops national action plans for their implementation. For example, governmental decrees of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the implementation of treaty-body recommendations, as well as “roadmaps” and similar recommendatory-character documents (“soft law”), are transformed by the Centre into imperative norms (“hard law”) and applied within the national legal order. This role confirms the Centre’s function as a translating and operationalizing institution that turns abstract international-rights guidance into concrete, binding national rules and institutional practices.

  • Monitoring and coordination function;

The National Centre is not merely an implementing body, but also a central body that monitors the execution of these recommendations by other state agencies (such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Prosecutor General’s Office). In this context, the National Centre performs the role of an “internal watchdog.” It collects reports from each state agency, analyses them, and issues guidance on how to address identified shortcomings.

  • Follow‑up mechanism with the UN (“re‑engagement” mechanism). 

The National Centre acts as the state’s “single information window” before the international community. It submits interim and periodic reports to the UN Committees, and this process constitutes an institutional mechanism that demonstrates the state’s commitment to its international obligations. Thus, the National Centre does not merely function as an agency that collects and transmits statistical data on the implementation of UN decisions but rather appears as a strategic coordinating centre that internalizes international standards into national law and policy. This indicates a high degree of institutionalization of the National Centre. 

Research findings show that although the National Centre occupies a central position in ensuring the implementation of UN treaty-body decisions, several institutional reforms are necessary to enhance the effectiveness of the process. For example: 

  • Strengthening the “parliamentarization” mechanism 

United Nations treaty bodies frequently call in their recommendations for an increased role of parliaments in the implementation of international decisions. It is recommended to legally strengthen the mechanism whereby the reports on the implementation of UN recommendations, prepared by the National Centre, are mandatorily heard each year by the chambers of the Oliy Majlis. This may enhance the institution’s political authority and accountability in line with the Paris Principles.

  • “Smаrt-mоnitоring”;

At present, data collection is carried out in most cases by traditional methods. A single electronic database designed to monitor the implementation of UN recommendations in real-time should be fully brought into operation. In this system, each responsible ministry (for example, the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Health) would be required to upload the implementation status of the relevant provisions. This would help to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy (“paper-free” system).

  • Institutionalizing relations with civil society and the media. 

Of course, in this context the role of the “fourth power,” that is, the media, is highly important. The independence and credibility of state reports can be ensured by activating the work of a “Public Council” under the National Centre that monitors the implementation of UN decisions and by broadly involving independent journalists and representatives of non-governmental non-profit organizations (NNT) into this body. 

CONCLUSION. In conclusion, it is necessary to emphasize that studying the activities of the National Centre for Human Rights through the prism of institutionalism theory allows a renewed interpretation of this body’s fundamental place within the national legal system. As the analysis has shown, the National Centre is not merely an administrative building or a static institution, but rather a dynamic institutional mechanism that transforms international human-rights standards into a stable, nationally embedded set of rules and procedures. Functioning as a functional “bridge” between the will of the international community and the implementing power of the state apparatus, it ensures the coherence of the legal order.

The National Centre therefore appears not simply as an administrative structure, but as a strategic institutional mechanism that shapes Uzbekistan’s standing in the international legal arena. From the standpoint of institutionalism theory, this body is the primary channel through which United Nations decisions are “institutionalized” and converted into concrete, everyday legal norms at the domestic level. The proposed reforms will not only strengthen the Centre’s coordinating role, but also elevate its supervisory function to a new level.

As demonstrated in the article, the recommendations issued by international treaty bodies – elements of “soft law” – are, precisely through the National Centre’s coordinating activities, converted into binding national norms, “hard law.” This process guarantees that international standards are not merely inscribed on paper, but are implemented in practice through national “roadmaps” and regulatory instruments. Moreover, the “Follow-up” system (implementation monitoring and re-engagement) operated by the Centre has been identified as one of the most effective means of monitoring the state’s adherence to its international obligations.

At the end of the investigation it can be stated that the effectiveness of reforms in the field of human rights in Uzbekistan is directly linked to the degree of refinement of this national mechanism. Enhancing the National Centre’s institutional capacity – particularly by expanding digital monitoring systems and strengthening its organic linkage with parliamentary oversight – will serve the unconditional implementation of UN decisions at the national level. In this way, a mechanism supported by a solid institutional foundation will continue to act as the key filter and transformer through which international legal norms are embedded into Uzbekistan’s domestic reality, thereby reinforcing the country’s legal authority on the global stage.

LIST OF SOURCES USED

National legal documents

  1. О‘zbekistоn Respublikаsi Prezidentining Fаrmоni. (2020). Insоn huquqlаri bо‘yichа О‘zbekistоn Respublikаsining Milliy strаtegiyаsini tаsdiqlаsh tо‘g‘risidа, PF-6012-sоn. Qоnunchilik mа’lumоtlаri milliy bаzаsi. https://lex.uz/uz/dоcs/-4872355 
  2. О‘zbekistоn Respublikаsi Prezidentining Qаrоri. (2018). Insоn huquqlаri bо‘yichа О‘zbekistоn Respublikаsi Milliy mаrkаzi fаоliyаtini tаkоmillаshtirish tо‘g‘risidа, PQ-4056-sоn. Qоnunchilik mа’lumоtlаri milliy bаzаsi. https://www.lex.uz/uz/dоcs/-4098056
  3. О‘zbekistоn Respublikаsi Prezidentining Fаrmоni. (2023). Insоn huquqlаri sоhаsidаgi Milliy tа’lim dаsturini tаsdiqlаsh tо‘g‘risidа, PF-46-sоn. Qоnunchilik mа’lumоtlаri milliy bаzаsi. https://lex.uz/uz/dоcs/-6378537 

International scholarly literature

  1. Gооdmаn, R., & Jinks, D. (2013). Sоciаlizing Stаtes: Prоmоting Humаn Rights thrоugh Internаtiоnаl Lаw. Оxfоrd University Press. https://аcаdemic.оup.cоm/bооk/4460 
  2. Hаll, P. А., & Tаylоr, R. C. (1996). Pоliticаl Science аnd the Three New Institutiоnаlisms. Pоliticаl Studies, 44(5), 936-957. https://dоi.оrg/10.1111/j.1467-9248.1996.tb00343.x
  3. Nоrth, D. C. (1990). Institutiоns, Institutiоnаl Chаnge аnd Ecоnоmic Perfоrmаnce. Cаmbridge University Press. https://www.cаmbridge.оrg/cоre/bооks/institutiоns-institutiоnаl-chаnge-аnd-ecоnоmic-perfоrmаnce/ААE1E27DF8996E24C5DD07EB79BBА7EE
  4.  Pegrаm, T. (2012). Nаtiоnаl Humаn Rights Institutiоns in Lаtin Аmericа: Pоlitics аnd Institutiоnаl Design. In R. Gооdmаn & T. Pegrаm (Eds.), Humаn Rights, Stаte Cоmpliаnce, аnd Sоciаl Chаnge. Cаmbridge University Press. https://www.cаmbridge.оrg/cоre/bооks/аbs/humаn-rights-stаte-cоmpliаnce-аnd-sоciаl-chаnge/nаtiоnаl-humаn-rights-institutiоns-in-lаtin-аmericа/А2F66DEE90680171C9EFD9CDB1АEE707 

Documents of international organizations

  1. United Nаtiоns. (1993). Principles relаting tо the Stаtus оf Nаtiоnаl Institutiоns (The Pаris Principles). Аdоpted by Generаl Аssembly resоlutiоn 48/134. 

https://www.оhchr.оrg/en/instruments-mechаnisms/instruments/principles-relаting-stаtus-nаtiоnаl-institutiоns-pаris-principles

  1. ОHCHR. (2023). Nаtiоnаl Humаn Rights Institutiоns: Histоry, Principles, Rоles аnd Respоnsibilities. Prоfessiоnаl Trаining Series Nо. 4/Rev.1. https://www.оhchr.оrg/en/publicаtiоns/prоfessiоnаl-trаining-series/nаtiоnаl-humаn-rights-institutiоns-histоry-principles