prijava
SARAJEVO, October 28 (FENA) - The 11th World Conference of the Ombudsman for the Armed Forces (ICOAF) began today in Sarajevo, organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiHPA), the Office of the BiH Parliamentary Military Commissioner and the Geneva Center for Security Sector Management (DCAF).
The three-day ICOAF conference, whose main theme is "Building Stable and Sustainable Ombudsman Institutions," brings together a record number of participants from around 50 countries to the BiH capital.
The conference was opened by Vice-Chair of the House of Representatives of the BiH PA and longtime member of the Joint Committee on Defense and Security BorjanaKrišto, expressing her expectation that its participants will find answers to the challenges faced by the Ombudsman Institution for the Armed Forces, in accordance with current procedures and with respect for fundamental human rights.
The 11th World Conference of the Ombudsman for the Armed Forces was welcomed by DCAF Director, Ambassador Thomas Guerber, who emphasized in his statement the importance of building strong ombudsman institutions in the AF, resilient to all kinds of potential pressures.
“This is the largest ICOAF conference ever held,” said Ambassador Guerber, stating that the organizers and of the event have hosted the largest number of representatives so far.
He specified that cooperation between the DCAF and the BiH parliamentary bodies has been going since 2006, since DCAF has supported the Joint Defense and Security Committee and the Intelligence and Security Agency Oversight Committee, and since 2013, the support has been provided to the Office of the Parliamentary Military Commissioner.
The main topic and aim of the Conference is to build stable and sustainable ombudsman institutions, and its participants will identify ways in which ombudsman institutions can avoid politicization and undermining their impartiality and independence without compromising their mandates, as in recent years they have become increasingly the target of different sorts of pressure, and frequently, the target of anger of government officials, the military, representatives of the executive and legislative branches.
(FENA) S. R.
