Putin Calls for Rights Ombudsmen Across Regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called human rights ombudsmen his allies and proposed to make the institution obligatory for every region of the country.

“Your work is work by completely independent people and is of course very, very important. I think that you are my direct allies in working to protect the interests and legitimate rights of citizens and this is an important part of my work and the meaning and purpose of all activities,” Putin said at a meeting with regional ombudsmen.

He added that the institution of ombudsmen is operating only in 67 regions of the country.

“This means that in some areas, for some reasons, this institution has not been created. I do not want to throw stones into anyone’s garden but it is obvious that somebody does not want to have such an institution independent from regional authorities and independent from anyone in general,” Putin said.

He suggested discussing “improving the legislative work” of ombudsmen.

“We can make this decision right now: you can come up with an initiative to the State Duma to create a standard (introduction of ombudsmen in the regions) mandatory for each region of Russia,” Putin said.

 

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