Representative of Ombudsman took part in the 11th International Conference of the Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces

Senior advisor of the Unit on Protection of the Rights of Military Servicemen of the Ombudsman Office Murad Babayev participated in the 11^th International Conference of the Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces (ICOAF) in Sarajevo on October 28-29, 2019. The conference was jointly organized by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Parliamentary Military Commissioner of this country.

The conference was attended by 76 representatives of Ombudsperson institutions or Defence Ministries, engaged in the protection of the rights of military servicemen, from 44 countries and three international organizations.

Within the event, discussions covered the issues related to strong and sustainable Ombuds institutions, their cooperation with Armed Forces, and dissemination of information through mass media to the public on the measures taken in the military sphere.

M. Babayev took the floor in the conference to provide information on the activities regarding protection of the rights of military servicemen in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the role of the Ombudsman in this field.

He noted that the state has taken a range of necessary steps on improvement of living and housing conditions, medical-social services, providing soft loans and increasing pension amount. As such, according to the Presidential orders aimed at strengthening the social protection of citizens serving in the Armed Forces, monetary aid for military servicemen and monthly salaries of employees, who are not classified as civil servants, have been increased for several times.

The representative of the Ombudsman mentioned that the Commissioner has established a Unit specialized in the protection of the rights of military servicemen and their family members., the Commissioner and her specialized advisors on military issues conduct visits to military units, educational and medical establishments hold legal awareness raising events for the personnel on the basis of action plans agreed among the Ombudsman Office, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Emergency Situations. These activities are disseminated via mass media and included to annual reports together with the relevant proposals and sited in the official website of the Ombudsman in Azerbaijani and English languages.

He added that at the initiative of the Ombudsman, the Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in 2008 was translated into Azerbaijani language by the OSCE Baku Office. It was also mentioned that the Ombudsman’s representatives participated in periodic reviews of Individual Partnership Action Plan that has proved to be a useful tool for development of political dialogue and practical cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO.

M. Babayev presented the Constitutional Law on the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan in five languages, electronic annual reports, other publications and symbolic souvenir to the DCAF director Mr. Thomas Guerber and the Parliamentary Military Commissioner Mr. Boško Šiljegoviç.

Within the conference, information and practice on military activity of NHRIs of member states were discussed, the realized actions were analyzed. It was announced that the next ICOAF will be held in Vienna, Austria on June 7-9, 2020. ICOAF will be held in Vienna, Austria on June 7-9, 2020.