A/HRC/22/32
international human rights treaties in domestic courts. The course was broadcast live on the
judiciary’s television channel for public prosecutors and judges in several judicial regions
throughout the country, including the primarily indigenous regions. Through these
activities, 50 public prosecutors and judges have been able to increase their awareness,
knowledge and skills relating to the application of human rights treaties and standards
relating to indigenous peoples. In Togo, the justice and security ministries and OHCHR
carried out a training programme on human rights norms in the administration of justice for
magistrates and criminal investigative police officers. The programme was the first to bring
together these entities and contributed to enhancing their understanding of and ability to
apply human rights norms in their work. Similarly, OHCHR helped strengthen the capacity
of law enforcement officials in Guinea-Bissau, including those in the penitentiary system,
through training, monitoring, reporting and advising authorities on necessary measures.
This contributed to a significant reduction of arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment in
prisons and detention centres and prompted the creation of an interdisciplinary committee
to provide support to the authorities in adequately managing the penitentiary system.
10.
In 2012, OHCHR training activities included facilitating a training workshop on
human rights in the administration of justice for magistrates in Djibouti; facilitating
training-of-trainers for Somali judges, law professors and other legal professionals on
human rights in the administration of justice; supporting a workshop for judges and
prosecutors in Tunisia on human rights in the administration of justice organized by the
International Bar Association; supporting two training workshops for Libyan prosecutors in
Tripoli; conducting a needs assessment mission to Egypt on activities relating to the
administration of justice, with particular reference to training of judges, law enforcement
personnel and parliamentarians and contributing to a training workshop for Somali military
judges in cooperation with the Human Rights Section of the United Nations Political Office
for Somalia.
11.
In addition, OHCHR continued efforts to ensure that individuals and groups facing
discrimination, in particular women, minorities and indigenous peoples and people of
African descent, have increased access to justice. For instance, in Kyrgyzstan, five Kyrgyz
human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provided free legal aid for the
population affected during, and in the aftermath of, the June 2010 violence in the southern
part of the country, in order to contribute to the restoration of justice and promotion and
protection of human rights. The five NGOs received technical and financial support from
the OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia and maintain a network of lawyers
experienced in criminal law who are on-call seven days a week and provide immediate
legal representation to arrested individuals. By the end of the year 2011, more than 12 legal
clinics had been opened in several districts of Osh and Jalal-Abad regions, including in
marginalized areas of the country. OHCHR also strengthened the capacity of judges,
lawyers and civil society organizations on the judicial protection of economic, social and
cultural rights through training activities in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Central
America and Western Africa.
B.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
12.
UNODC, through four of its five thematic pillars – crime prevention and criminal
justice; organized crime and trafficking; corruption; and terrorism prevention – supports
States in building the capacity of justice systems to operate more effectively within the
framework of the rule of law. In particular, as the guardian of the United Nations standards
and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, its work includes paying attention to
vulnerable groups as well as providing assistance to victims and witnesses of crime,
improving access to justice (including access to legal aid), promoting restorative justice,
preventing gender-based violence, promoting justice for children and supporting prison
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