Head of Ganja Regional Center of Ombudsman attended conference on the 20th anniversary of Greek Ombudsman institution

Upon the instruction of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan the head of Ganja Regional Center Sabuhi Abbasov participated in the conference on “State and Society- Challenges for rights and freedoms” in Athens, the Hellenic Republic, dedicated to the 20^th anniversary of the Greek Ombudsman institution.

At the opening of the conference, which was held with participation of Ombudsmen members of the International Ombudsmen Institute (IOI) and representatives of Ombudsman Offices, the speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Nikos Voutsis addressed the participants and noted the difficult and successful development path of the Ombudsman Institute during 20 years, in general the important role of such institutions in ensuring supremacy of justice and law in the society.

The IOI President Peter Tyndall, the European Regional President of the IOI Rafael Ribo Masso, the Greek Ombudsman Andreas I. Pottakis also made opening speeches, and the European Ombudsman  Emily Oreilly wished success for the work of conference through video message.

In his speech at the conference, S.Abbasov greeted the attendees on behalf of the Commissioner Elmira Suleymanova, congratulated the Greek Ombudsman and staff members of the Institution on the occasion of the 20^th anniversary of their activity and expressed the best wishes for the further activity on protection of human rights. He stated that the Azerbaijani Ombudsman built effective mutual relations with international organizations and several Ombudsman Institutions, also paid special attention to the cooperation with NGOs and civil society, mass media and communities.

He noted that the Azerbaijani Ombudsman Institution actively participated in several projects implemented by the EU and CoE for the purpose of supporting legal reforms, including Eastern Partnership program, Twinning, TAIEX. It was highlighted that a group of members from the Ombudsman Office visited Greece within the joint Twinning project in 2016, got familiar with the structure of the Ombudsman Institution of that country and National Preventive Mechanism against Torture, activity directions and attended the visits to psychiatric and penitentiary facilities.

The important role played by four regional centers of the Ombudsman, covering different regions was noted from the point of making the institution much closer to the locals and reacting promptly to the appeals addressed from these locations.

S.Abbasov mentioned the unresolved armed conflicts as a challenge to human rights and freedoms among others in modern age.  He emphasized the occupation of the internationally recognized Azerbaijani territories- Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts by Armenia, the unprecedented genocide committed against Azerbaijani population in Khojaly city on February 26, 1992, deprivation of fundamental human rights of more than one million refugee and IDP compatriots as a result of this conflict, the necessity of following the position of international community, UN Charter and provisions of international documents on human rights by Armenia for restoration of violated rights.

The calls for rights and freedoms, including the development of artificial intelligence, impact of efficient state services formation on human rights, polemics on balance between freedom and security, situation created by refugee and migrant flows, increasing climate of xenophobia and intolerance were broadly discussed among the participants and international experts, the role to be played by Ombudsman Institutions in fighting against such challenges  was analyzed, several approaches were put forward in this direction.