Provincial Ombudsman Sindh Mr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, chaired the workshop held on 29.05.2024, at Hamdard University, Karachi and highlighted the role of Ombudsman Office in providing administrative justice to the public. He emphasized the role of students to make the society resilient and aware of their rights and the avenues available under the law to get redressed their problems.

Provincial Ombudsman Sindh addressed the large number of students of Hamdard University and highlighted the key features of Brand Ambassador Program, initiated through the regional subsidy of IOI, with aims and objectives to disseminate the information about the role of Ombudsman, promote civic responsibilities and to raise community outreach through students being inspiring future leaders. He added that the ten students selected as Ambassadors will become the voice of Provincial Ombudsman Sindh and built a bridge between Ombudsman office and students in particular and with community at large which will promote good governance.

Prior to this Mr Dr. Syed Shabib-ul-Hasan, Vice Chancellor of Hamdard University Provincial Ombudsman Sindh and his team and chalked out activities and achievements of the University and role playing to provide best skilled youth to the country.

Ms. Rehana G. Ali Memon, Advisor and Mr. Masood Ishrat, Registrar, Secretariat Provincial Ombudsman Sindh also briefed the participant about the working of Provincial Ombudsman Sindh through a detailed presentation.

The services of selected Ambassador Students will be acknowledged by awarding certificates.

– 35 cases mediated and consulted in a year by preemptively identifying long-standing collective complaints

– In 2023, ACRC resolved collective complaints of 120,000 people, including cases resolved by the Collective Grievance Investigation Team

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) established a “Collective Grievance Investigation Team” in March 2023 and resolved 35 cases of grievances of 34,000 people through mediation and consultation in a year by actively endeavoring to resolve long-standing or intense collective complaints.

The number of collective complaints filed in 2023 reached 7,000 nationwide. Such complaints are usually difficult to be addressed by involved parties alone, which delay the resolution of complaints, causing considerable amount of social conflict expenses.

With regard to this, in March 2023, ACRC established a designated team specialized in collective complaint mediation. Since then, the team has been ly resolving complaints that are challenging to be addressed by first-line agencies through ACRC’s “mediation.”

The “Collective Grievance Investigation Team” adopted handling methods that ensure preemptively identifying collective complaints that are difficult to resolve due to different opinions among agencies and initiating investigations. Based on these methods, the team received 104 cases in the past year, handling 68 of them, among which 35 were resolved through mediation and consultation.

Major types of complaints resolved are as follows: long-standing regional grievances that were difficult to address due to interests among agencies or parties involved, environmental issues, such as noise and bad smell, inconveniences in living due to lack of infrastructure, and civil complaints regarding children’s safety.

For example, abandoned and neglected deer in Anma-do, Yeong gwang-gun, Jeollanam-do have been damaging crops owned by nearby residents for more than 30 years. This was addressed by coordinating different opinions among relevant agencies, leading to the allocation of roles of each agency and the amendment of relevant laws.

In addition, a crosswalk could not be built on the road in front of a shopping center in Dongdaemun, Seoul for 17 years due to different opinions within merchant associations, resulting in jaywalking by pedestrians, causing danger of accidents. This issue was addressed by the arbitration by the “Collective Grievance Investigation Team,” resulting in a decision to build a crosswalk while ensuring mutual benefits of merchants, which led to a clue to resolve a long-standing grievance of 7,963 residents.

There are also other mediated cases, such as preparing noise reduction measures for residents living around the Daejeon Geumgang Bridge No.1, creating a new area for boarding and alighting at Goyang Deokeunhangang Elementary School to ensure the safety of children, and ▴building an urban planning road in front of the main gate of Goyang Deokee Elementary School.

In 2023, ACRC resolved a total of 230 collective complaints filed by 120,000 people, including cases resolved by the “Collective Grievance Investigation Team.” It is assumed that a greater number of citizens may have benefited, taking into account residents, parents, and users of facilities, such as roads, who did not file grievance complaints.

ACRC Vice Chairperson Kim Tae Gyu said, “By establishing the “Collective Grievance Investigation Team,” we have made significant achievements of resolving various long-standing collective complaints. We will remain committed to promoting the identification of civil complaints and systemizing the operation of the team to resolve grievances in living faced by more citizens.”

On 1-2 May 2024, Chief Ombudsman Mr. Şeref Malkoç and his accompanying delegation participated in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue themed “Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interconnectivity” in Baku/Azerbaijan. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. İlham Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony of the Forum.
Mr. Malkoç gave a speech at the International Conference regarding “Enhancing available and flexible regular migration pathways to address irregular migration: creating the conditions for sustainable development.

During his visit, Mr. Malkoç had also a meeting with the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan Ms. Sabina Aliyeva and came together with students from the faculty of law who were interns at the Ombudsman Institution of Azerbaijan.

• PROBLEMS OF LOW INCOME GROUPS TO BE ADDRESSED ON PRIORITY – WAFAQI MOHTASIB

• JAIL AUTHORITIESADVISED TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR ZOOM FACILITIES FOR MEETING OF PRISONERS WITH RELATIVES

• 16 REPORTS SUBMITTED IN THE SUPREME COURT REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF JAIL REFORMS

Karachi, May 23, 2024: The process of implementation of the jail reforms is being carried out speedily under the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a number of steps have been initiated in Sindh province for provision of more facilities to the jail inmates. “Most of the jails in the province have biometric system which helps update the records of the prisoners and maintain liaison with the courts”.

These views were expressed by the Wafaqi Mohtasib, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi while presiding over a high level meeting in the Chief Secretary Sindh’s office to review implementation of the Prison Reforms as assigned by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. It may be noted that 16 reports pertaining to the prison reforms have already been submitted to the Apex Court of Pakistan and the 17^th report would be submitted soon.

Earlier, he chaired an important meeting in the Wafaqi Mohtasib, Regional Office, which was also attended by the heads of the Federal Government agencies in Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, he instructed the Investigation Officers to make consistent efforts for early redressal of the problems being faced by the low income groups, which lack the means to hire lawyers or wait for indefinite period. He urged the respective heads of the Federal agencies to adopt peoples’ friendly attitude instrumental in promptly redressing their complaints to maintain public trust in their services. Stressing the need for greater outreach and accessibility, he encouraged the officers to undertake visits to the far-flung areas to address public grievances expeditiously closer to their homes.

Later, talking to media representatives, Wafaqi Mohtasib said that during the outgoing year 193,028 complaints were decided whereas more than 76,000 complaints have already been processed in the current year so far.

The Wafaqi Mohtasib was given a detailed presentation in the Chief Secretary’s Office regarding the conditions prevailing in jails in Sindh. During the briefing, the Wafaqi Mohtasib was informed that steps have already been initiated for connecting the biometric system with NADRA, police, prosecution department and other relevant government agencies. Efforts are also underway for construction of new jails in Thatta, Shaheed Benazirabad and Malir, whereas sites have been earmarked for setting up jails in Tharparker, Umerkot and Kashmore. He was informed that efforts are being made for provision of clean drinking water, washroom facilities, sports and recreation alogwith health and educational facilities. He advised the jail authorities to devise the procedure for providing facilities of meeting of the prisoners with their relatives through zoom/video link.

It was also informed that in some important jails women, children and transgenders are being kept in separate enclosures and efforts are being made to make such arrangements in other jails of the province too.

The Ombudsman of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, visited the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus at the invitation of Ilkan Varol, the Ombudsman of the TRNC.

During the visit, the Ombudsman, S. Aliyeva, met with Ersin Tatar, the President of the TRNC.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman informed the President, E. Tatar, about her activities in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms, as well as her international cooperation with international organizations, foreign ombudspersons and national human rights institutions. 

S. Aliyeva said that Azerbaijan Ombudsman has close cooperative relations with the ombudsperson of Northern Cyprus, highlighting ongoing joint initiatives aimed at effectively protecting the rights of citizens in both countries. 

Afterwards, the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan had meetings with the TRNC Parliament Speaker Zorlu Töre, the Prime Minister Unal Ustel, the Attorney-General Sarper Altıncık, and the President of the Bar Association Hasan Esendağlı.  

Discussions focused on the Ombudsman’s mandate, further enhancing the protection of human rights and freedoms, as well as cooperative initiatives with the corresponding authorities to improve national legislation. Furthermore, attention was drawn to the fact that the Ombudsman prepares recommendations and proposals for amending the existing legal framework and adopting new bills.  

Simultaneously, discussions in the meetings involved the exchange of views between the countries on cooperation in safeguarding human rights and freedoms. 

Ombudsman S. Aliyeva also had a meeting with I. Varol, the TRNC Ombudsman.

Fondly recalling previous meetings, the Ombudsman emphasized the significance of such meetings in facilitating discussions on cooperation. S. Aliyeva expressed satisfaction with the current cooperative relations between the ombuds institutions of the two countries.

The Ombudsman said that this year our country will host the 29th session of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties to the UNFCC – (COP29), it was noted that the Azerbaijan ombuds institution plans measures in this direction, and possible cooperation prospects in this direction were discussed.

It should be noted that Şeref Malkoç, the Chief Ombudsman of the Republic of Türkiye, also participated in the meetings held within the framework of the visit.

On 24-28 April 2024, Chief Ombudsman Mr. Şeref Malkoç and his accompanying delegation paid a study visit to the People’s Republic of China upon the invitation of the Vice President of the National Commission for Supervision of China Mr. Fu Kui. Mr. Malkoç visited the Minister of Justice of China, Ms. He Rong. During the meeting, opinions were exchanged on justice and rule of law; also information about the Institution was provided.

Chief Ombudsman Mr. Şeref Malkoç met with Vice-President of China’s National Commission of Supervision, Mr. Fu Kui.  During the meeting, the works related to Asian Ombudsman Association were discussed.

Moreover, Mr. Malkoç realized a meeting with the Chairman of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, Mr. Xie Fuzhan. During the meeting, exchanges of opinions were made and the activities of both Institutions were touched upon.

• Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman) opens AOA Webinar on “Building Public Awareness – An Essential Feature of Ombudsmanship”.
• Calls for greater sharing of experiences and best practices amongst the Ombudsman Institutions in the Asian Region.

The Wafaqi Mohtasib, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi opened an International Webinar on “Building Public Awareness: An Essential Feature of Ombudsmanship” in Islamabad on May 15, 2024. The Webinar was held from the platform of Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA), whose permanent Secretariat is housed within the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat at Islamabad. Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi is the current President of the Asian Ombudsman Association, which is a 47-member strong non-political and professional body of ombudsman institutions in the Asian region.

Addressing the participants, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi said that the institution of Wafaqi Mohtasib Pakistan was striving to expand its outreach and accessibility with a view to facilitating dispensation of administrative justice to the general public closer to their homes. He said that greater public awareness is the key to a successful ombuds institution and a robust awareness campaign is pursued to educate the general public about the availability of this important forum, particularly in the remote and far-flung areas for speedy redressal of their complaints. Mr. Qureshi added that the United Nations Resolutions and other international instruments on ombudsmanship call upon the member States to develop and conduct outreach activities at the national level in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders in order to spread the word about the mandate and scope of work of this Office for the benefit of the common man.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who addressed the Webinar as a guest speaker, gave a professional perspective of awareness raising and various options for reaching out to those facing administrative excesses and maladministration on the part of public sector bodies. He said that greater physical and IT footprints of ombudsman institutions would be highly desirable and enhance the accessibility of this institution to the general public. He urged the media fraternity to help publicize the goals of ombudsmanship for creating an informed citizenry, fully conversant with their rights and obligations.  The Webinar was attended by a large number of participants representing ombudsman institutions of Azerbaijan, Benin, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Tatarstan, Thailand, Turkiye, Provincial Ombudsman institutions and the Regional Offices of the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat in the country.

At present, regional representatives of the Ombudsman have been mandated by Authorised person for Human Rights of the Oliy Majlis (Ombudsman) to conduct meetings with citizens living in remote areas of the republic, paying special attention to systematically investigating their complaints. In this regard, within the framework of the “Ombudsman Maktabi” project, regular field receptions are organized at the mahalla level.

Recent field receptions of citizens were conducted by regional representatives of the Ombudsman in Hazorasp district of Khorezm region, Sariosiyo district of Surkhandarya region and in Chinaz and Akkurgan districts of Tashkent region. During these receptions, almost 30 complaints from citizens related to spheres of housing, utilities, employment, healthcare, and education were received by regional representatives.

The complaints addressed to the Ombudsman are regularly analyzed in territories, and several vital issues in areas which require an increase in legal awareness among the population are selected in this field. Based on these issues, “Ombudsman Maktabi” events are organized with the involvement of representatives of relevant state organizations and agencies.

After receptions of citizens, “Ombudsman Maktabi” events were organized to rise citizens’ legal knowledge in the “Bustan” SGTM of Hazorasp district, Khorezm region, “Konchilar” of Sariosiyo district, Surkhandarya region, “Birlik” of Chinaz district, and “Tolovul”, “Usta Normat”, “Khanabad” of Akkurgan district, Tashkent region.

During the events, which covered attendance of more than 300 citizens, the content and significance of the “Uzbekistan 2030” strategy were initially discussed. Citizens’ awareness of the opportunities and benefits of providing quality of social services and assistance to the population in the frame of ensuring youth with appropriate jobs, and engagement in modern professions and entrepreneurship, was also elevated.

On April 22, 2024, the Public Defender of Georgia presented the 9th annual report on the situation of equality.

The report provides an overview of the obstacles faced by women, persons with disabilities, representatives of religious and ethnic minorities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community and other vulnerable groups in terms of the realization of the right to equality in various fields during 2023. The report also provides information about the activities carried out and decisions made by the Public Defender of Georgia for the protection of the right to equality.

In the reporting period, the Public Defender studied 122 cases of alleged discrimination. The percentages of applications according to the grounds of alleged discrimination were grouped as follows:

• Sex/gender – 17%;
• Dissent – 16%;
• Nationality/citizenship – 8%;
• Disability – 7%;
• Political opinion – 6%;
• Religion – 5%;
• Age – 4%;
• Sexual orientation and gender identity – 4 %;
• Trade union membership – 2%;
• Discriminatory treatment on other grounds was relevant in this reporting period as well and made up the most – 31% of the applications.

In 2023, the Public Defender prepared 5 recommendations, 2 general proposals and 3 amicus curiae briefs on equality issues. Regarding 6 cases, despite the fact that discriminatory treatment could not be established due to factual circumstances, the Public Defender considered it necessary to clarify a number of issues related to the right to equality for the respondents.

Today, an international event which was aimed at exchanging experience and boosting activities of Central Asian Ombudsmen has begun its work at University of Helsinki. The Authorised person of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Ombudsmen of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are participating in the jointly organised event between the Ministry of foreign affairs of Finland and the Center for Supremacy of Law at University of Helsinki.

The main goal of the event, which will take place from April 15 to 19, 2024, is to develop international cooperation in the field of human rights between the Ombudsmen of Finland and the Central Asian countries, exchange experiences on modern mechanisms for protecting human rights, and organize discussions on current issues.

As part of the Ombudsman’s visit to Finland, a series of international meetings and familiarization with the activities of penitentiary institutions are planned.