Die Bürgerbeauftragte des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz, Barbara Schleicher-Rothmund, übergab heute ihren ersten Jahresbericht für das Jahr 2018 an Landtagspräsident Hendrik Hering und stellte ihn der Öffentlichkeit vor.

Mit 2.301 (Vorjahr 2304) neuen Eingaben wandten sich Bürgerinnen und Bürger im zurückliegenden Jahr an Schleicher-Rothmund. Schleicher-Rothmund trat im Mai 2018 die Nachfolge von Dieter Burgard als Bürgerbeauftragte und Beauftragte für die Landespolizei an.

Schwerpunkte waren Eingaben des Strafvollzugs (512), des Sozialwesens (197), der Landwirtschaft und Umwelt (167) und der Kommunale Angelegenheiten (152).

Wiederkehrende Themen bei Eingaben aus den Justizvollzugsanstalten waren: Personelle Situation im Justizvollzug, bauliche Ausstattung und medizinische Versorgung.

Schleicher-Rothmund bilanziert: „Mein erstes Jahr als Bürgerbeauftragte war durch viele Antrittsbesuche, Gespräche mit Bürgerinnen und Bürgern und zahlreiche Aktenstudien geprägt.“ Dabei hebt sie das gute Miteinander mit den Verwaltungen bei der Suche nach Lösungen für die Petentinnen und Petenten ausdrücklich hervor.

2018 war die Bürgerbeauftragte an 24 Sprechtagen für 246 Personen persönliche Ansprechpartnerin. 2 Sprechtage hat sie in Justizvollzugsanstalten angeboten. Dieses Angebot nutzten 74 Inhaftierte und Justizvollzugsbedienstete.

Seit über 45 Jahren gibt es diese bürgernahe Institution, die in rund 2/3 der Fälle Zufriedenheit bei den Betroffenen erreichen konnte.

The Seimas Ombudsman appealed to all Lithuanian municipalities and care institutions to ensure respect for human rights and freedoms in the time of COVID-19 outbreak. In his appeal, the Seimas Ombudsman aimed to remind that international human rights standards guarantee the right of every person to the highest standard of health care, even in an emergency.

In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Social Security and Labour and Lithuanian municipalities, the attention was drawn to the fact that the virus poses higher risk to groups of society living in close proximity to each other as well as to older people; therefore, the risk is particularly high for residents and employees of social care institutions where the virus can spread extremely fast. The Seimas Ombudsman noted that, because of the vulnerability of the people living in these institutions, awareness of special precautionary measures among care staff to protect themselves and the residents is particularly relevant and necessary during this pandemic.

The Seimas Ombudsman calls for compliance with the requirements of legal acts regulating measures for the prevention and control of communicable diseases, according to which it is necessary to update emergency plans, constantly inform employees about the changing situation, reminding them what actions they should take to prevent the spread of the virus. It is also particularly important to comply with general hygiene requirements in order to avoid overcrowding of the residents’, provide and prepare isolation rooms as well as to guarantee provision of the necessary hygiene and protection measures to the residents and the staff. 

The Seimas Ombudsman notes that guidelines issued by various global and regional organisations on preventive measures and the protection of human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic should also be followed. The guidelines emphasize the need for public authorities to establish a state-of-the-art coordination system linking the health and justice sectors, ensuring awareness of staff in penitentiary institutions and guaranteeing that all human rights are respected.

In guaranteeing preventive and control measures against the virus, the dignity of the residents must be respected and their rights secured; moreover, restrictions must be applied in accordance with the principles of lawfulness, accountability and proportionality and limited only to what is strictly necessary. Residents should also be able to communicate with their family and loved ones by telephone and other means of telecommunications, receive parcels from relatives and, if necessary, get appropriate assistance.

The Seimas Ombudsman also notes that social care institutions should resolve the issue of receiving residents' pensions (for example, by temporarily storing residents' pensions in cash in the safe of the institution), and ways must be sought to ensure periodical shopping opportunities for residents. The facility, with an enclosed yard, should allow residents, depending on their independence, to stay in the fresh air for some period of time. The Seimas Ombudsman also observes that employment should be organized individually or only for small groups; additional psychological assistance should be provided to the population during this period.

 The Seimas Ombudsmen protect a person‘s right to good public administration securing human rights and freedoms, and supervise fulfilment by state authorities of their duty to properly serve the people. The Seimas Ombudsmen also conduct national prevention of torture in places of deprivation of liberty in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Seimas Ombudsmen's Office is a national human rights institution accredited by the United Nations.

Ombudswoman Lora Vidović submitted the Annual Report for 2019 to the Croatian Parliament, which provides comprehensive analysis and assessment of the state of protection of rights and freedoms in Croatia, as well as 133 recommendations to the state administration bodies, local and regional self-government units, professional associations, trade unions and others, intended to eliminate the systemic problems that citizens face on a daily basis.

Through more than 50 topics, the Report provides an overview of the situation in almost all areas of life, with special reference to groups in a vulnerable position, such as the elderly, socially disadvantaged, residents of the rural areas, members of the national minorities, especially Serbs and Roma, migrants and veterans, among others.

For the first time, most complaints were related to health care, followed by discrimination, labour and civil service relations, the judiciary, the rights of persons deprived of their liberty and others. The systemic problems remain the same as in previous years and still represent a serious obstacle to the realisation of citizens’ guaranteed rights – they live in severe poverty, lack information about the rights, as well as the trust in institutions, while public services are often unavailable for them.

An example for this can be seen through increasing waiting lists for health care services and the lack of medical teams, so those who cannot pay for the private health services still have to wait. That is why the Ombudswoman recommended that concrete measures should be taken to reduce waiting lists, to adopt a new Emergency Medicine Network, but also to regularly and effectively inform citizens about their health insurance rights. It is especially difficult to achieve access to the health services in rural areas, due to many years of unequal regional development, resulting in inadequate public transport and other services.

The fact that 17% of citizens in 2019 felt less discriminated in comparison with the same survey conducted in 2015, certainly is encouraging, but numerous challenges still remain. This in particular relates to the field of work and employment, primarily to the unequal treatment of older persons, those with impaired health, members of the trade unions, but also to those discriminated on the basis of political conviction and ethnic or national origin. As before, throughout 2019 members of the Roma and Serb minorities and migrants were stigmatised in public discourse, and we witnessed physical attacks, especially on members of the Serb minority.

The at-risk-of-poverty and social-exclusion rates are somewhat reduced, but not in the case of older persons, especially those living alone who are almost twice as much more vulnerable than the EU average. This should certainly be considered during the process of applying tailor-made welfare measures for maximum effect.

Older people, as well as the homeless and young people from the alternative care, should be more protected by the amendments of the Social Welfare Act, which, despite the announcements, which were not prepared in 2019. Such amendments should also finally tend to the problem of totally inadequate and thus almost non-existent supervision of homes for the older and infirm, a problem we have been warning for several years, but still remains unresolved.

In addition to the new recommendations, in each chapter the report also gives an overview of the fulfilment of those addressed earlier. For example, after our recommendations, donating food to social self-services was simplified, a minimum amount of water required for the basic life necessities, which could not be denied to those who could not settle the bills, was prescribed, and the scholarship for Roma students was increased.

The report was based on 5.009 cases that Ombudswoman handled in 2019, information gathered through fieldwork across the country, relevant researche, as well as the data from the competent bodies and other stakeholders, which she requested on 637 addresses. It is intended for all interested parties, as an argumentative and constructive basis for raising the overall quality of life in Croatia, which is only possible through a high degree of respect for all citizens’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws.

NOTE: English version of the Ombudswoman Annual Report 2019 will be available online upon the translation.

Report di Save the Children al fianco di bambini, bambine, adolescenti e famiglie per affrontare le conseguenze socio – educative e psicologiche determinate dalla diffusione del Covid – 19.

“L’emergenza Coronavirus è una crisi sanitaria, senza precedenti, che interessa tutte le sfere della vita delle comunità. Tra le dimensioni maggiormente colpite dalla crisi ve n’è una che non possiamo trascurare: l’impatto sui bambini, le bambine e gli adolescenti”. Save the Children propone un breve report per essere al fianco di bambini, bambine adolescenti e famiglie per affrontare le conseguenze socio – educative e psicologiche dell’emergenza Covid – 19.