People with disabilities were in the spotlight Tuesday, 3 December 2013, as a series of events was held to mark the International Day of People with Disability.

The Council of Europe organised a conference on the detention of immigrants in Europe in co-operation with the United Kingdom’s national preventive mechanism against torture. The conference was held on 21-22 November 2013 in order to establish common concerns and to develop minimum standards on the basis of a comprehensive exchange of experience and best practice.

On 25-28 November 2013, the VIIIth Congress of the Association of Ombudsmen and Mediators of la Francophonie (AOMF) took place in Dakar. On the occasion of the General Assembly, the new Bureau has been elected.

More than 80 people, representing dozens of ombudsmen, mediators and “watchdog” agencies from more than 20 countries across Africa, participated in the Ontario Ombudsman’s “Sharpening Your Teeth” training course in Lusaka, Zambia, from November 11 to 16, 2013.

The Defensora del Pueblo, Soledad Becerril, has presented in the Joint Committee for Relations with the Ombudsman the report “Economic crisis and personal insolvency: actions and propositions”.

Public spotlight exposes troubling local secrecy. Ontario Ombudsman André Marin presented his annual report on investigations of closed meetings and says that the Province should strengthen the “Sunshine Law”.

At its New York meeting in September 2013, the IOI Board of Directors acknowledged that the Office de la Protection du Citoyen (OPC) of Haiti fulfilled the criteria set out in the IOI By-laws and accept the institution as Voting member of the IOI.

After being refused certain benefits on the ground that they were only granted to employees on the occasion of their marriage under a collective agreement, a French citizen, who had entered into a PACS arrangement (civil solidarity pact), challenged that refusal before the French courts.