Ulaanbaatar
Special Rapporteur Forst visits NHRC
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst visited the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Mongolia on May 2 and exchanged information on human rights defenders.
Special Rapporteur Michel Forst is visiting Mongolia at the invitation of the government to define the situation of human rights defenders in Mongolia. Previously, he has worked in Moldova and Honduras. During his visit, Mr Forst will meet with the representatives of government and civil society organizations, citizens,communities, target groups, decision makers and legislators.
During his meeting with the Chief Commissioner of NHRC J.Byambadorj, Mr Michel Forst noted that according to the information from the CSOs and other resources, there were cases when government agencies and officials offended human rights defenders. “It is crucial to have an independent Human Rights Commission. At our meeting in 2015, you informed me about submitting a draft law on human rights defenders. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the draft law was stalled,” he said.
Chief Commissioner J.Byambadorj noted that the commission delivered the situation of human rights defenders to the Parliament in its 14th report. “Relevant draft law submitted in cooperation with CSOs wasn’t supported by the Parliament. I hope that positive outcomes will occur after your visit,” he said. He mentioned that complaints on human rights violations have been reported to the NHRC and expressed readiness to cooperate.
Special Rapporteur M.Forst will present preliminary report on his work in Mongolia on May 13, 2019.
