Ashgabat, 11-12 November 2021: The Office of the Ombudsperson of Turkmenistan jointly with the UNDP in Turkmenistan, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, organized a two-day online workshop entitled “International Practice and Norms of Interaction of National Human Rights institutions with Law Enforcement Agencies, Bar Associations and international human rights institutions”. The workshop was conducted by international expert Mr. Peter Iiskola.

During the workshop, Mr. Iiskola presented effective and best international mechanisms of interaction between the Office of the Ombudsman with law enforcement agencies and other government institutions for the protection of human rights in accordance with the Paris Principles.

“I would especially like to note that this workshop aims to raise awareness among law enforcement officials, lawyers on best international practices of cooperation of Ombudsperson`s Office and law-enforcement agencies and on the UN Standard Minimum Rules (SMR) for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, the UN Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems.”- Mr. Akmyrat Danatarov, UNDP Programme Analyst for Governance, Economic Diversification, and Inclusive Growth, outlining the objectives of the seminar.

This important initiative is supported by the financial contribution of the Government of Canada.

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The activities are organized in the framework of the project: " Strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ombudsperson’s Office of Turkmenistan" implemented jointly by the UNDP in Turkmenistan and the Office of Ombudsperson in Turkmenistan.

The Project aims to improve the system of protection, promotion and implementation of human rights in Turkmenistan by reforming national legislation in accordance with the human rights international obligations of Turkmenistan and increasing the institutional capacity of the Ombudsperson’s Office.