Meeting of Central Asian Ombudsmen in Turkey

Istanbul hosted a two-day regional seminar for national human rights institutions (NHRIs) of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) with participation of international experts.

The Kazakh side was represented by the Secretary of the Commission on Human Rights under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan T.Abishev, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan E.Azimova and the Representative of the Commissioner for the city of Shymkent N.Abdezov.

The goal of this platform is to strengthen regional cooperation, capacity building of NHRIs, exchange of best practices and information to solve urgent issues of human rights at the regional level.  

During 2 days the participants exchanged practices of interaction with the United Nations human rights mechanisms, the role of NHRIs in protecting human rights in the context of emerging regional challenges and vulnerabilities in crisis situations, climate change, human rights and business.  

In her speech Elvira Azimova informed participants about the major reforms achieved in the field of human rights, emphasizing the importance of partnerships and planned directions, noting that on November 18 of this year entered into force the Constitutional Law "On the Commissioner for Human Rights", which has increased not only the status of the NHRI itself, but also expanded its competence.  

According to Azimova, the institution was given a number of new powers, including an appeal to the Constitutional Court, appeal for clarification of the judicial practice and its changes, filing lawsuits on systemic problems of an indefinite range of persons, in order to identify them, update and make appropriate changes to the practice and legislation, and the emphasis is placed on raising awareness of citizens of their rights.    

The Central Asia National Human Rights Institutions Support Initiative (CASI/NHRI) is a regional platform established jointly by the NHRIs of the five Central Asian countries with the support of the UNDP Istanbul Regional Center and the OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia in November 2016. The platform also contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (in particular, Goal 16 to promote peaceful and open societies for sustainable development, access to justice for all, and effective, accountable and participatory institutions at all levels).

#Ombudsman #Human Rights