The legal standards of the Human Rights Defender as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) were published in Armenian and English. This document illustrates the jurisprudence in the field of torture prevention and will become an educational material in universities and during training courses on the protection of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty organized for law enforcement officers and civil servants.

The European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) developed a booklet to sum up the core points communicators and practitioners in various fields raised in expert meetings, practitioners’ seminars and focus groups in 2017 and 2018.

Le Médiateur de la Wallonie, Marc Bertrand, accompagné de la collaboratrice en charge de ce secteur, s’est rendu récemment dans les locaux de la SOWAER (Société wallonne des Aéroports) pour une rencontre avec le Président du Comité de gestion, le Directeur général, Monsieur Thibaut de Villenfagne, ainsi que les personnes en charge du suivi des plaintes concernant les aéroports.

The Office of the Public Defender of Rights has launched a four-year plan focused on human rights protection. The plan will allow the Ombudsman to focus even more strongly on particularly vulnerable groups, such as children, people with disabilities and people whose freedom has been restricted.

Cypriot attorney-general Costas Clerides has rejected a demand by the country’s auditor-general that a criminal investigation be carried out against the Ombudswoman. In his legal opinion the attorney-general made strong reference to the Venice Principles and the IOI letter of support.

A public opinion survey carried out by the International Republican Institute (IRI) shows that the public feels a high level of trust for the Human Rights Defender.

On 13 January 2020, Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina hosted a working visit from Werner Amon, Secretary General of the IOI and Chair of the Austrian Ombudsman Board. Amon and his Slovenian counterpart exchanged the experiences of their respective national institutions dedicated to human rights and called for even greater cooperation between ombudsmen in Europe. 

The National Ombudsman has published his Ombuds Agenda 2020, which covers the National Ombudsman, the Veterans Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children. Some of the main issues this year include poverty and debt among vulnerable young people in the Dutch Caribbean, veterans in detention and the involvement of (chronically) sick children and young people in their medical treatment.