Mr Elton Georges, former Complaints Commissioner of British Virgin Islands, passed away in the evening of 4 April 2018. On behalf of the IOI community, President Tyndall, Secretary General Kräuter and Regional President Arduin expressed their heartfelt condolences to Mr Georges’ family, friends and colleagues.

Depriving the rights on liberty does not automatically lead to the loss of other civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights. Amongst them is the right to correspondence, which was denied to a prisoner who wanted to complain against the quality of service and price of the business providing services in prison. The Ministry of Justice accepted the Ombudswoman's recommendation and instructed all criminal bodies to prevent such situations in the future.

A meeting with Regis Brillat, Head of the Department of the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe (CoE), and Zoltan Hernyes, Head of the CoE Azerbaijan Office, was held at the Azerbaijan Ombudsman Office. Both sides presented their work carried out for the protection of human rights and freedoms and discussed the possibility of conducting joint trainings on the European Social Charter.

Today, April 4th 2018, Dunja Mijatović takes up the post of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. National of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she has been elected last January by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She is the first woman to hold this post, succeeding Nils Muižnieks (2012-2018), Thomas Hammarberg (2006-2012) and Alvaro Gil-Robles (1999-2006).

La Defensoría del Pueblo de Santa Fe será la encargada de supervisar la aplicación de las políticas de salud mental en la provincia, en el marco del órgano del Órgano de Revisión y Promoción de Derechos de los Usuarios de los Servicios de Salud Mental, que fue creado por la ley 13.733, recientemente sancionada por la Legislatura.

Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe today released a report into Australia Post complaints regarding carding, Safe Drop and compensation. The report reviews the actions taken by Australia Post since the release of three earlier Ombudsman reports concerning these matters.

The Inspecter General of Taxation released its April newsletter with information concerning ongoing reviews and news concerning the complaint handling service.

On 27 and 28 March 2018, the Council of Europe, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the Austrian Ombudsman Board organized a forum with representatives from NPMs of six European countries and international and European experts. The topic was the possible creation of a databank for the exchange of national standards in places of detention and NPM recommendations.