The Uzbek Senate passed the State Security Service Bill at Thursday's plenary session. The bill consists of 9 chapters and 48 articles that form a unified policy in the sphere of ensuring Uzbekistan's state security.
"The situation in the world and the region of Central Asia requires significant enhancing of the effectiveness of the security system," said Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defense and Security Farrukh Dadakhodzhaev during the bill's discussion session.
The Bill defines the State Security Service (DXX) as the special authorized body that protects the constitutional order, sovereignty, territorial integrity and interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan from external and internal threats. The DXX is subordinate and accountable directly to the President of the country.
The document establishes the main principles of the DXX: the legality, respect for human rights and freedoms, reliance on citizens' assistance, priority of prevention of offenses, unity, independence and secrecy of its activities.
In accordance with the bill, the DXX units organize their activities on the basis of the principle of secrecy, which rules out publicity of information about the forms and methods of the department's work. At the same time, the concepts of "intelligence and counterintelligence activities" in the sphere of ensuring state security were for the first time defined in legislation.
In December, in a State of the Union to the parliament, the head of state said that the bodies of the National Security Service acted on the basis of a provision approved by the government 26 years ago, and during that time unjustified expansion of the powers of the service took place.
