At the invitation of the Ombudsman of Portugal, Maria Lúcia Amaral, the third meeting of the Network of Ombudsmen, National Commissions for Human Rights and other Human Rights Institutions of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP Human Rights Network) took place on 13 December in Lisbon.

During the meeting, programmed to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it was decided to invigorate the Network created in 2013 and to consolidate, in each National Human Rights Institution, focal contact points aimed at ensuring the exchange of information, including those necessary to resolve specific cases of complaints from citizens involving two or more jurisdictions in the area of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.

At meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Portuguese Ombudsman's Office in Lisbon, the members of the CPLP Human Rights Network welcomed the existence in all their countries of entities dedicated to the defence of human rights.

However, they encourage the authorities of São Tomé and Príncipe to establish a truly independent National Human Rights Institution in accordance with the principles of Paris, and offered their support for its constitution and international accreditation process.

The members of the Network also stated concerns for the precarious conditions in which the National Human Rights Commission exercises its mandate in Guinea-Bissau, as well for the fact that the school year has not yet been inaugurated in the country, which could jeopardize the basic right of access to education.

The CPLP-Human Rights Network encompasses the Human Rights Institutions of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Timor-Leste and Portugal.

To read the joint statement issued after the meeting in its original language click here.