Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina attended the international conference marking the 15th anniversary of the Human Rights Ombudsman of Armenia, held on 26 and 27 November 2019 in Yerevan. The two institutions are linked by a long-standing cooperation, as Armenia followed Slovenia's example and established its National Preventive Mechanism with the assistance of its Slovenian counterparts.
At the special invitation of Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan and under the auspices of Prime Minister Nikola Pashinyan and President of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan, Ombudsman Svetina discussed the challenges faced by the human rights institutions with the participants of the conference from foreign countries. The conference also focused on the topics of freedom of speech, prevention of hate speech, children's rights, particularly in relation to health and social care, and women's rights. The conference was attended by about 150 ombudsmen or their deputies, as well as representatives of other institutions active in human rights and fundamental freedoms, who emphasised the importance of equality before the law for all people in all areas. They agreed that this was a particular challenge for the countries and their governments.
In the discussions with his colleagues from abroad, Ombudsman Svetina advocated the strengthening of the role of national human rights institutions, highlighting the importance of their financial independence and operation in accordance with the Paris Principles. In his view, they can only perform their tasks effectively if they are independent of the institutions they supervise. He presented the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman institution to his colleagues, stating that this field was relatively well regulated in Slovenia, but that it still faced many challenges, a fact that the Ombudsman regularly brings to the attention of the Slovenian Government and other bodies exercising public powers. He added that human rights need constant attention, as any violation of an individual's rights marks and affects their life.
In a discussion on freedom of speech and hate speech, the conference participants agreed that the rapid development of modern technologies makes the internet one of the increasingly exposed areas. They established that the right to free speech often collides with hostile discourse. According to the Slovenian Ombudsman, the ethics of speaking in public and raising awareness of the pitfalls of modern communication methods are extremely important. He said that even though the freedom of expression is a democratic value, it is limited by other human rights and freedoms and the rights of others.
On the occasion of the recent International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the conference also touched upon the protection of women's rights, gender discrimination and other aspects of inequality faced by many countries around the world. In this context, Ombudsman Svetina recalled the importance of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (also known as the Istanbul Convention), which called for the signatories to prosecute gender-based violence as a crime, and stressed that violence should have no place in our society.
Conference participants also spoke about children's rights. They agreed on how important it is for every child to have a safe childhood. The poverty and misery experienced by many children who do not have adequate access to health and social services and food is too widespread a reality, and should be addressed more decisively and more effectively by both individual countries and the international community. Strengthening social protection is a crucial factor in preventing poverty, and children's well-being should be a top priority on the decision-making agenda.
