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Slovenia, the relevant legislation setting up the National Preventive
Mechanism designates the Human Rights Ombudsman to perform this
function in cooperation with non-governmental and humanitarian
organisations.
The Seimas Ombudsman of Lithuania's Annual Report for 2017 explains
how, in practice they cooperate with civil society, non-government
organisations, human rights experts, and other social partners. This not
only involves regular meetings and discussions but also active
involvement in the process of investigating complaints. The Romanian’s
People’s Advocate’s 2017 Annual Report records that cooperation
protocols were signed with UNICEF Romania and Save the Children in
2017. In the Russian Federation the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, by virtue of his/her mandate, engages with Public Monitoring
Commissions whose main task is to monitor the observance of the rights
of persons held in places of detention.
Cooperation with other national human rights structures
Principle 11(c)
In the Slovak Republic, the Public Defender of Rights is required to
cooperate with other entities active in the protection of rights and
freedoms, such as human rights institutions. The Austrian Ombudsman
Board’s Annual Report for 2017 records its participation in the annual
meeting of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) at the Global
Alliance of NHRIs and its active collaboration with the European Network
of NHRIs, both as an NHRI itself and as the headquarters of the
International Ombudsman Institute secretariat. Many Ombudsman
Offices are also their country’s NHRI.
Ombudsman institutions are usually cooperating with a large number of
other human rights structures which operate in related and similar fields.
In Moldova, the Torture Prevention Division of the People’s Advocate
Office has established cooperation with the designated NPM – the Expert
Council for the Prevention of Torture – which consists of representatives
of civil society. With the assistance of the Council of Europe, the
communication between the two bodies was strengthened, thus reducing
the incidence of parallel monitoring activities that might undermine the
work of each institution. As a result, joint visits to places of detention were
carried out and joint reports and recommendations were produced.
Similarly, in the Russian Federation, the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, as mentioned above, by virtue of his/her mandate, engages with
Public Monitoring Commissions whose main task is to monitor the
observance of the rights of persons held in places of detention.
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