On strategic communication Ombudsman’s Adviser Liana Kalčina attended a meeting organised by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in cooperation with EQUINET (European Network of Equality Bodies), which was held in Vienna, Austria, between 4 and 5 May 2015. The participants paid particular attention to the issues of strategic communication at the national and European level in ombudsman institutions and other related bodies in EU countries. ECRI: How to deal with discrimination and hate crimes? Deputy Jernej Rovšek attended a regular annual seminar of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) held from 27 to 29 May 2015 in Strasbourg. The central topic of the seminar was the role of independent institutions of human rights protection dealing with discrimination and hate crimes. 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK Meeting of Children’s Rights Ombudspersons – CRONSEE Deputy Tone Dolčič and Ombudsman’s adviser Lan Vošnjak attended a conference of the Children’s Rights Ombudspersons’ Network in South and Eastern Europe (CRONSEE) that was held in Zagreb, Croatia, between 28 and 29 May 2015. The meeting focused on the implementation of children’s rights and their benefits in cases when children’s interests are in conflict with the interests of their parents. Reception by the Ambassador of Italy On 2 June 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer attended a reception hosted by the Ambassador of the Italian Republic, Her Excellency Rossella Franchini Sherifis, at the City Museum of Ljubljana. European Commission on the protection of children’s rights Between 3 and 4 June 2015, Deputy Tone Dolčič attended the 9th European Forum on the rights of the child, organised by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, in order to exchange experience on coordination and cooperation in integrated child protection systems. Implementation of preventive tasks of National Preventive Mechanisms On 4 June 2015, Deputy Ivan Šelih attended a working meeting entitled ‘Implementing the preventive mandate: Ombuds institutions designated as National Preventive Mechanisms in the OSCE region’ in Warsaw, Poland. The meeting was organised by APT – the Association for the Prevention of Torture (Geneva, Switzerland) and OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe). Reception by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer responded to the invitation of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Dr. Doku Zavgajev, and attended a ceremony on the occasion of Russia Day on 11 June 2015. Exchange of experience between National Preventive Mechanisms Deputy Ivan Šelih and Ombudsman’s adviser Robert Gačnik attended a workshop of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) for National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM) entitled ‘Implementing a preventive mandate’, which was held in Riga, Latvia, from 16 to 19 June 2015. The workshop was organised by the Latvian Ombudsman, the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and the Association for Prevention of Torture (APT). 200 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 Supervision of centres for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers On 26 June 2015, Deputy Ivan Šelih shared the experience of the Slovenian National Preventive Mechanism with participants at a round table or a workshop in Skopje, Macedonia. The round table was organised by the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia, the Austrian Ombudsman and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. The participants discussed the monitoring of facilities with limited freedom of movement and centres for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. They particularly focused on the situation and challenges involving illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in Macedonia. On this occasion, Ivan Šelih made a statement which received a lot of attention in the Macedonian media. Health care of persons deprived of liberty On 28 June 2015, Deputy Ivan Šelih and Milan Popović, a specialist of the Slovenian National Preventive Mechanism, attended a workshop of the South‐Eastern Europe NPM Network organised in Tirana, Albania. The main topic of discussions was access to health care for persons deprived of their liberty in the SEE region. Visit to the National Preventive Mechanism of the Republic of Austria Members of the National Preventive Mechanism Deputy Ivan Šelih and Ombudsman’s advisers Robert Gačnik and mag. Jure Markič made a one-day working visit to the National Preventive Mechanism of the Republic of Austria on 30 June 2015. The primary purpose of the visit was to exchange practical experience of implementing preventive visits. To this end, representatives of the NPM of the Republic of Austria conducted an unannounced visit to a prison in Klagenfurt in which members of the NPM of the Republic of Slovenia participated as observers. Such cooperation and exchanges of experience of implementing preventive visits within the SEE Network proved useful in the past, and will continue, since we expect the members of the National Preventive Mechanism of the Republic of Austria to participate in a similar visit to the Republic of Slovenia in 2016. Reception by the American Ambassador Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputy Jernej Rovšek attended an official reception to mark the Independence Day of the United States of America hosted by the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia, His Excellency Brent R. Hartley, on 2 July 2015. Reception of the Swiss Ambassador On 9 July 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputy Jernej Rovšek received the Ambassador of Switzerland, His Excellency Pierre-Yves Fux, at the Ombudsman’s head office. Visit by the Montenegrin Ombudsman The delegation of the Montenegrin Ombudsman (Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro – Ombudsman) led by Ombudsman Šućko Baković visited Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer on 3 August 2015. The delegation included Deputy Zdenka Perović, the Ombudsman’s advisers, Marica Nišavić and Dragan Radović, and Boris Ristović, Project Officer at the Office of the Council of Europe in Podgorica, Montenegro. The working discussions were also attended by Deputies Ivan Šelih, Jernej Rovšek and Tone Dolčič, and mag. Bojana Kvas, Secretary General of the Ombudsman. The main focus was on the operations of the National Preventive Mechanism according to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The programme for the visitors included a visit to Begunje Psychiatric Hospital, Piran Police Station, Radeče Juvenile Correctional Facility and Vrhnika Retirement Home. International Ombudsman Symposium in Turkey Between 16 and 17 September 2015, Deputy Jernej Rovšek attended the 3rd International Symposium on Ombudsman Institutions in Ankara, Turkey. At the Symposium, Deputy Rovšek presented the discussion of the substantive field of discrimination, individual cases and experience with Ombudsman’s reports being discussed by the Parliament. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 201 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK of elderly people and national minorities. Each of the main topics was discussed in more detail in individual working groups. Deputy Rovšek led the group on national minorities.