Akyikatchy (Ombudsman) of the Kyrgyz Republic Dzhamilya Dzhamanbaeva and members of the European Parliament held a meeting

The meeting took place in Bishkek, in the building of the Ombudsman Institute.

During the meeting, the parties held a dialogue on a number of issues in the field of human rights.

Dzhamiliya Dzhamanbaeva noted that the Akyikatchy Institute is committed to strengthening democracy, ensuring fundamental norms and standards of human rights and freedoms.

"The Institute makes maximum efforts to implement the necessary measures in the field of human rights and freedoms. Undoubtedly, in order to achieve the set tasks, we need to strengthen and reinforce our Institute. The first steps in this direction are already being realised, a draft constitutional law "On Akyikatchy (Ombudsman) of the Kyrgyz Republic" has been developed. If adopted, this law will strengthen the independence of the Institute and expand its mandate. The draft law is currently under consideration by the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The draft law has undergone the procedure of expertise by such authoritative international institutions as the Venice Commission, OSCE ODIHR, ATF, UN OHCHR and, of course, we have held a number of public hearings with the participation of civil society.

We are ready for active cooperation and exchange of experience with the European Union in all areas, which in the long term can bring good results and contribute to improving the quality of life of our citizens. We highly appreciate the EU's efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need," the Ombudsman said.

Tomasz Zdechowski, Member of the European Parliament, expressed confidence in the importance of continuing dialogue in the protection of human rights and freedom.

"Kyrgyzstan holds a leading position in Central Asia in promoting democratic principles. In this regard, we are ready to co-operate with you more, as we want to see good results. Being an Ombudsman is difficult and not everyone can bear such responsibility. We see that your institution takes a number of important steps in the field of human rights protection. In many cases you take the hit. We hope that you will continue to work hard in this direction. As they say, if you sleep through democracy, you can wake up in autocracy. Thanks to your ambassador, we have a very good idea of Kyrgyzstan. We are ready to be in touch with you and continue the dialogue," Tomasz Zdechowski said.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the importance of cooperation in borrowing the best international practices in drafting laws, as well as in studying human rights mechanisms.

At the end of the meeting, the parties reached mutual understanding on all relevant issues in the field of rights to defend freedom and human rights in accordance with universally recognised principles and international law.