The role of the Ombudsman in protecting human rights

By Adv. John WaltersIN the past 20 years, we have had many satisfying experiences serving people with joy and regrets that we could not find in favour of all complainants who approached our Office for assistance.

The Namibian experience of Ombudsmanship constitutes to date telling evidence of the long road the Office has travelled on its wayto becoming an effective institution of control and accountability, contributing to the defence of the citizens and the quality of democracy in Namibia.The Mandate The role of the Ombudsman is to identify and prevent violations of human rights and other irregularities and to eliminate their consequences. In achieving this the Ombudsman has a twopronged approach. In the first approach, a complaint will be received from an aggrieved person and investigated.

The outcome of the investigation will be communicated to the aggrieved person. But it does not only require the investigation of complaints, therefore our second approach involves the promotion and prevention of human rights violations through human rights education.Challenges Despite the fact that we have made enormous advances in creating a modern complaint handling institution, there is always room for improvement.

The 20th independence anniversary is an opportunity not only to look back, but also signals some of the opportunities and challenges that the Office of the Ombudsman will face in the years to come.

The Ombudsman should inter alia: Co-ordinate educational programmes for judicial officers, politicians, law enforcement officers, custodial officers and other interested groups on human and constitutional rights; Undertake surveys to ascertain the extent to which the people of Namibia are aware of their human and constitutional rights, have full enjoyment of those rights and have access to redress mechanisms; Conduct enquiries into human rights issues of major importance to the people of Namibia and into practices that may violate fundamental rights and freedoms;

• Promote a culture of tolerance, inclusiveness and dialogue on fundamental human rights and freedoms through public presentations, seminars, work- shops and round table conferences;

• undertake research on issues pertaining to fundamental human rights and freedoms;

• review existing legislation for inconsistencies with the letter and spirit of the Constitution and make recommendations for change;

• propose laws or suggest action government may take in relation to human and constitutional rights;

• examine international instruments relevant to human rights and advise government on the consistency of the laws of Namibia with these instruments;

• assist public and private sector organizations to develop their own capacity to promote a human rights culture and to prevent violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms;

• collaborate and build partnerships with other stakeholders to improve communication, networking and information sharing on human rights;

• conduct intensive public education campaigns throughout Namibia on a continuous basis; and

• facilitate the development of a national human rights action plan to improve human rights observance and to raise awareness of human rights standards.National Human Rights Action Plan Government has a duty to respect, promote, protect and fulfil human rights. In response to this duty and in response to the call to increase knowledge and awareness of human rights, the Ombudsman approached government to consider the desirability of drawing up a national human rights action plan, identifying steps whereby government would improve the protection and promotion of human rights.

The process of developing such a plan started with a Human Rights conference which was held on 27 and 28 May 2009. A co-ordinating committee with the Office of the Ombuds-man as focal agent is now driving the process.Citizens’ Participation in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Human rights are the birth right of each citizen and as rights holders, they are active participants in the realization of their rights. The right to participation is the only way through which the citizens can take part in shaping their destiny.

Namibia faces many human rights challenges; to meet these challenges successfully the government and the Namibian people must work together to change attitudes; to intensify efforts to increase knowledge and awareness of human rights. We all share in the challenge to improve human rights observance.

Therefore, the aim of the human rights action plan is to bring all stakeholders into a meaningful partnership with government in order to effectively pursue national goals. The action plan should be a national undertaking involving all sectors of society; it should be “owned” by the entire nation.

The action plan will stimulate a comprehensive assessment of needs in the country, set achievable targets and propose realistic activities aimed at reaching these objectives.Conclusion The election of a democratic government, the adoption of the Constitution and the entrenchment of fundamental rights and freedoms lay the foundation for the establishment of a society based on dignity, social justice, liberty and equality.

We have made significant strides in achieving these ideals, but there is still much more to do. Widespread poverty inhibits the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and is a threat to the survival of our democracy. We must therefore eradicate poverty as soon as possible.