Conference on Evolution and Challenges of Multi-mandated NHRIs
On April 19, 2017, the Public Defender held the International Conference on Evolution and Challenges of Multi-mandated National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in connection with the 20th anniversary of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia.
Ombudsmen of various countries, human rights defenders, representatives of the international community and civil societies, as well as MPs and representatives of the Government, discussed the current situation, challenges and advancements relating to the multi-mandated human rights institutions. Representatives of NHRIs shared experience and best practices of their countries.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili welcomed participants of the conference and spoke about the particular importance of the Public Defender’s Office, as a constitutional institution of the country. He stressed that it is necessary to pay more attention to Public Defender’s recommendations. He praised the Public Defender’s efforts and expressed support for his aspiration towards the Western values.
"The Public Defender has a difficult mission - to report of the mistakes made by us in daily political life. The main thing is to get engaged in a real discussion and to make daily practice more civilized. I am sure that the format of intensive dialogue, offered by Mr Ucha Nanuashvili, will be accepted and each year the Georgian political system will become more oriented to the protection of human rights and freedoms", - said the President.
The Public Defender spoke about the efforts of the Public Defender’s Office, the increased mandate and responsibilities. He reviewed the innovations introduced in recent years, including various monitoring missions, the Human Rights Academy and the hotline. "The Public Defender's Office has undergone significant evolution for 20 years. It has been developed and established as an independent institution, and has gained significant international recognition. Today the Public Defender's Office works on absolutely all rights and we do our best not to leave any field, where protection of human rights is needed, without attention", - said Nanuashvili.
Tamar Chugoshvili, First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, noted that among other things, the most important turning point was the change in the Government's attitude, as in recent years the Public Defender's recommendations have been taken not only as information, but the branches of government have been obliged to implement them.
Niels Scott, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Georgia, talked about the benefits of sharing best practices of various countries, the growing interest towards the Public Defender's Office, as well as the growing influence of the institution and the role of international documents aimed at strengthening the protection of human rights, which has huge importance for peaceful development of the world. He noted that protection of human rights has become one of the main priorities for the Government of Georgia, the main contribution to which was made the Public Defender's Office.
Carlo Natale, acting head of the EU Delegation to Georgia, stressed the importance of the Public Defender's Office in the process of democratic development and noted that the European Union remains the partner of the Public Defender of Georgia in order to keep contributing to the strengthening of this institution.
Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, said that the Public Defender was the institution that forces the Government to protect human rights and that a lot of resistance could emerge in that process. According to him, relations with some officials may be changed and complicated in the mentioned process - which is relevant. He added that good relations between the Public Defender and the authorities indicate that the institution cannot properly perform its duties.
The evolution of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia for the last 20 years was reviewed at the first session of the conference, which was moderated by Croatian Ombudswoman Lora Vidović. The history of international and regional human rights institutions, as well as the role of networks of human rights institutions in the protection and promotion of human rights, was emphasized at the session.
Reports were delivered by Sozar Subari - Minister of Internally Displaced Persons, Refugees and Accommodation of Georgia (former Public Defender), Günther Kräuter - Secretary General of the International Ombudsman Institute, Adriana C.J. van Dooijeweert – President of Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, and Petr Polak - Head of the Equality Department at the Czech Public Defender Of Rights and Equinet Board Member.
The second session was led by the First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, Natia Katsitadze, during which, Fabienne Rossler - Secretary General of the National Human Rights Commission of Luxembourg, Juris Jansons - Ombudsman of Latvia, Armen Tatoyan - Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Bogdan Kryklyvenko - Head of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and Maria Gavouneli - Chair of the Sub-Committee on International Cooperation of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, focused on functional diversity of national human rights institutions. They provided international perspective on the challenges that multiple mandated institutions are facing, together with the benefits.
The third session focused on the practice of the cooperation between NHRIs and other stakeholders, successful stories of cooperation, description of the process, challenges and results… The session was moderated by Erika Kvapilova, representative of UN Women in Georgia.
Speeches were delivered at the session by Jorgen Johansen – conflict and cooperation expert, Ketevan Khutsishvili – Executive Director of Open Society Georgia Foundation, Vladimir Shkolnikov - senior human rights advisor at OHCHR, Ben Buckland – NHRI Adviser of the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Kataryna Gardapkhadze – First Deputy Director of OSCE/ODIHR, and Eva Pastrana – Coordinator of the Council of Europe program HELP in 28.
