CAT/OP/MNG/1 Mandate 13. As set out in article 3.1 of the Law on the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia, 3 the Commission’s mandate is to promote and protect the human rights and freedoms contained in the Constitution of Mongolia, national law and international treaties to which Mongolia is party. Article 13 of the Law provides that the Commission should put forward proposals on human rights issues, proposals and recommendations on legal and administrative amendments and proposals on implementing international human rights treaties, conduct research, collaborate with international, regional and national human rights institutions, raise awareness, promote human rights education and encourage accession to international human rights treaties. Visiting powers 14. Since its establishment in 2000, the Commission has been monitoring human rights in places of detention by conducting both unannounced and announced visits, inquiries, research and monitoring.4 The Commission monitors juvenile correctional centres, closed and open prisons, pretrial detention centres and medical centres within prisons. Mental health centres are also within the Commission’s monitoring mandate. Since 2007, it has been monitoring the rights of persons receiving mental health-care treatment in the National Centre for Mental Health of Mongolia.5 It has also reported on a psychiatric nursing clinic, centre for addiction treatment and shelters for victims of domestic violence. 6 The Committee against Torture has recommended that Mongolia strengthen the Commission’s independent and regular monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty, including those for persons with psychosocial difficulties and special care homes (CAT/C/MNG/CO/2, para. 20 (c)). During the visit, the Subcommittee was informed, however, that visits to places of detention by the Commission were not conducted systematically, and that it did not conduct individual interviews with detainees. Selection of commissioners 15. As stipulated in the Commission mandate, the speaker of parliament nominates candidates for the Commission’s three commissioner positions on the basis of proposals from the President, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Legal Affairs and the Supreme Court. In 2016, the Committee against Torture recommended that Mongolia develop a clear, transparent and participatory process of selection for positions in the Commission (CAT/C/MNG/CO/2, para. 34 (b)). Funding 16. The Commission is funded under the State party’s consolidated budget, approved by the parliament.7 The Commission’s budget and personnel have decreased in recent years, and the Committee against Torture has expressed its concern about this (CAT/C/MNG/CO/2, para. 34 (a)). Reporting and commenting on legislation and policy 17. The mandate of the Commission provides that commissioners should submit to the parliament annually a report on the human rights situation in Mongolia, which should also be issued in the State gazette.8 It also provides that the Commission should put forward proposals and recommendations on human rights issues and on whether laws and 3 4 5 6 7 8 4 Available from http://mn-nhrc.gov.mn/eng/28/29/32-national-human-rights-commission-of-mongoliaact.html. National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia, Fifteenth Status Report on Human Rights and Freedom in Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar, Khukh Sudar Printing, 2016). Reports of the Commission are available from http://mn-nhrc.org/eng/main2/188. National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia, Fifteenth Status Report. Ibid. Mongolia, Law on the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia, article 22.2. Ibid., article 20.