DUSHANBE, October 11, 2011, Asia-Plus — A meeting of ombudsmen from Central Asia’s countries is taking place in Dushanbe from October 12 to October 13.
According to information from Tajikistan’s Human rights Ombudsman Office, a regional workshop entitled “Principles Relating to the Status of National Human Rights Institutions (The Paris Principles) and role of National Human Rights Institutions in Prevention of Torture in Central Asia” is taking place on the sidelines of the meeting.
The workshop is dedicated to discuss issues related to development of the national human rights protection systems in the region, the national human rights institutions (NHRI) requirements and their role in prevention of torture in Central Asia, cooperation of ombudsmen with the UN Agencies, international human rights protection system, civil society, media, etc.
Organized, by Tajikistan’s Human rights Ombudsman Office under support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the event is expected to bring together head of the OHCHR Human Rights Department for America, Europe, and Central Asia, OHCHR regional representative for Central Asia, the human rights ombudsmen from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, head of the department at Kazakhstan’s National Center for Human Rights, head of the department for monitoring at Georgia’s Institute for Legal Protection and some other officials, the source said.
An ombudsman is an official, usually appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens.
Tajikistan’s Human Rights Ombudsman Office, headed by Ombudsman Zarif Alizoda, formally began its operations in May 2009.
