What is ombudsman?
What Does ombudsman Mean
Ombudsman is a concept of the Swedish language that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) . The term is used as an equivalent to Ombudsman , a public office that exists in many political regimes.
The ombudsman is responsible for ensuring that the rights of citizens are not violated by the State . The mission of this official is to guarantee respect for the rights of each individual in the framework of any type of judicial, administrative, bureaucratic or other action.
What the ombudsman does, therefore, is to defend the rights of the people and, in turn, oversee that the government of the day does not violate these freedoms and safeguards of the subjects. The ombudsman has the particularity of being an official who receives the position through a congressional election , after his figure has been subjected to a public debate, but who is independent from that same Congress.
Although its power depends on the Constitution of each country, it generally does not have the power to sanction the authorities or force them to take action. The usual thing is that their scope is political, making suggestions and trying to persuade the authorities.
The ombudsman can, on the other hand, lead actions that seek to involve a court or even the Supreme Court so that their proposals are made effective and mandatory.
It should be noted that, in addition to his active role, the ombudsman can also receive and attend to complaints from citizens who request his assistance.
Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsman
Also known by its acronym ( FIO ), the Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsman is a group that was born in 1995 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, and that has the presence of Attorneys, Reasoners, Suppliers, Commissioners and Presidents of Public Commissions of Human Rights and Defenders of the People of the Ibero-American countries at the regional, provincial, autonomous, national or state levels.
This federation is governed by its Statute (which was approved on August 5, 1995 in Cartagena de Indias and amended three times, in 1999, 2000 and 2006), as well as by the resolutions adopted by the Steering Committee and the General Assembly, according to the type of decision that must be made at each step. It is worth mentioning that its highest authority is the General Assembly, which is made up of its highest-ranking members.
With regard to the Steering Committee, it is made up of the heads of the national organizations that are part of the Federation and three people who represent foreign organizations , so as to ensure the representation of the different geographic regions. Historically, these non-national representatives have been from Spain (which has regional Defenders Offices), Mexico (where there are State Human Rights Commissions) and Argentina (a country that has provincial Defenders Offices).
The main goal of the Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsmen is to create a space for discussion for the exchange of experiences, for cooperation and for the promotion, dissemination and strengthening of the institution of the Ombudsman in its jurisdiction at the geographical level.
But its objectives do not end there, since the FIO also seeks:
* strengthen, expand and promote the culture of Human Rights in the countries of origin of its members;
* Create and maintain ties of collaboration with non-governmental organizations that advocate for the defense, promotion and respect of Human Rights;
* Fight for the promotion of research and studies of issues within its competence, with the purpose of ensuring that the peoples coexist peacefully, and to collaborate with the strengthening of the rule of law and the democratic regime.