Oct 25, 2015
Opening Ceremony
Antonin Rada, Deputy Minister - Head of the Supervision and Inspection Division, Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic
Lenka Marečková, Main inspector for Human Rights Protection, Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic
Ambassador Theodor H. Winkler, Director, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)
Major General Jaroslav Kocián, Deputy Chief of the General Staff - Inspector of Army of the Czech Republic, Armed Forces of the Czech Republic
Anna Šabatová, Public Defender of Rights
Oct 26, 2014
Day 1
Session 1: The Role of Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces in Democratic Societies
Moderator: Lenka Marečková, Main inspector for Human Rights Protection, Ministry of Defence, the Czech Republic
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Saša Janković, The Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia
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Armen Grigoryan, Deputy Ombudsman on the Rights of Military Servicemen, Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia
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Nicola Williams, Service Complaints Commissioner for the Armed Forces, United Kingdom
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Moustapha Elhadji Kollo, Conseiller Technique, Médiateur de la République, Niger
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Bogdan Kryklyvenko, Head of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
Session 2: The Centrality of human Rights in Democratic Societies and the Role of Ombuds Institutions For the Armed Forces
Moderator: Joseph Perez, Chief, Assistance & Investigations, U.S. European Command
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Lenka Marečková, Main inspector for Human Rights Protection, Ministry of Defence, the Czech Republic
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Jose Luis Martin Gascon, Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, the Philippines
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Ivan Dvořák, Senior Defence Adviser of the Czech Republic to the OSCE and FSC Co-ordinator for the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security
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Hans-Peter Bartels, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Germany
Session 3: Civil and Political Rights of Armed Forces Personnel: Citizens in Uniform?
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Breakout group 1: Freedom of expression
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Breakout group 2: Freedom of association
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Breakout group 3: Right to complain
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Breakout group 4: Political rights
Session 4: Conducting Effective Investigations
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Breakout group 1: Receiving complaints and determining the course of action
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Breakout group 2: Conducting interviews and accessing information
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Breakout group 3: Making conclusions, recommendations, reporting and follow up
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Breakout group 4: Mediation
Oct 26, 2015
Day 2
Session 5: The Importance of Ensuring and Maintaining Independence of Ombuds Institutions in Democratic Societies
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Breakout group 1: Civilian ombuds office with a general mandate, including the armed forces (e.g. national ombuds office)
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Breakout group 2: Civilian ombuds office with a general mandate, including the armed forces (e.g. national ombuds office)
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Breakout group 3: Civilian ombuds office with a specific mandate for the armed forces, but independent from the armed forces (e.g. parliamentary commissioner for armed forces or independent defence ombudsman)
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Breakout group 4: Ombuds office inside the armed forces (e.g. inspector general, complaints manager)
Session 6: The Relationship Between Ombuds Institutions and Civil Society in the Democratic Oversight of Armed Forces
Moderator: Maija Sakslin, Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman, Finland
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Reinier Van Zutphen, The National Ombudsman, The Netherlands
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THIAM Mamadou cherif, Charge de Mission, Le Mediateur De La Republique Du Senegal, Senegal
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Jernej Rovšek, Deputy Ombudsman, Human Rights Ombudsman, Slovenia
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Emmanuel Jacob, President, EUROMIL
Session 7: Current Affairs
Moderator: Hans Born, Deputy Head of the Research Division, DCAF
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Roald Linaker, Ombudsman, The Parliamentary Ombudsman for the Norwegian Armed Forces
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Akpelozim Lokoun, Research Analyst, Office of the Mediator, Togo
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Nicola Williams, Service Complaints Commissioner for the Armed Forces, United Kingdom
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Temba Matanzima, South Africa Military Ombudsman
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William McDermott, Project Officer, DCAF
Oct 26, 2015
Closing Ceremony
Announcement of the 8th ICOAF in the Netherlands
Conclusion, Adoption of the Conference Statement andClosing Remarks
International Conference of