Deputy Head of OSCE Mission welcomes greater regional co-operation among Ombudsman Institutions

SARAJEVO, 25 June 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina facilitated today a workshop to promote collaboration between Ombudsman Institutions across Southeast Europe, which are responsible for upholding and defending human rights.

Representatives of Ombudsman Institutions from Sarajevo, Zagreb, Skopje, Pristina, Podgorica, Belgrade and Ljubljana attended the event. Nina Suomalainen, the Deputy Head of OSCE Mission to BiH, opened the conference underlining that independent National Human Rights Institutions are indispensable pillars of democratic societies.

“These institutions should be free from political interference with the ability to hold public authorities accountable for safeguarding basic human rights”, Suomalainen said. “Dialogue and exchange of experience, whether on the international stage or within regional meetings, are invaluable to addressing issues and identifying solutions to protect human rights.”

The representatives of the Ombudsman institutions identified specific areas where their co-operation could increase and areas of common concern, such as widespread discrimination, limited resources to tackle human rights abuses and insufficient public knowledge of how to defend their own rights. The role that Ombudsman institutions can play in contributing to the reconciliation process by responding to human rights violations and showing citizens that all are equally protected under the law was highlighted.

While recognizing the overall difficult financial situation, Suomalainen called on BiH authorities to allocate sufficient funds to allow the BiH Ombudsman Institution to fully implement its mandate.