14th International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions

“Combating and Preventing Torture and Other Ill-treatment: The Role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) ” 

Co-hosted by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the Danish Institute for Human Rights in cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights Office

The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) is pleased to announce its forthcoming 14th International Conference, which will examine the critical role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in combating and preventing torture and other ill-treatment at a critical moment in time.  

The International Conference will be co-hosted by GANHRI, the UN Human Rights Office, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights and will be held in Copenhagen from 6-8 November 2023. 

The International Conference for National Human Rights Institutions takes place every three years and aims at developing and strengthening the cooperation between NHRIs and to discuss relevant items on their agenda. The last  International Conference  was held in 2018 in Marrakech, Morocco and gathered more than 260 NHRIs from around the globe to explore the role of NHRIs and their contributions in expanding civic space and promoting human rights defenders, with special focus on women human rights defenders (WHRDs). 

The Critical Role of Independent and Effective NHRIs in Addressing Torture and Other Ill-treatment 

The 14th International Conference will explore the diverse practical and effective ways in which NHRIs can employ their broad mandates and extensive protective functions under the Paris Principles, to uphold the rights of all persons to human dignity and to freedom from torture and other ill-treatment. Special attention will be paid to the important role of cooperation at the regional and international levels.  

The 14th International Conference presents an important opportunity for NHRIs from around the world to consolidate the achievements they attained during previous Conferences and, together with partners and stakeholders, to share experiences, identify good practices, and reaffirm their vital individual and collective commitments to ensuring the right of all persons to freedom from torture and other forms of ill-treatment. 

“Torture completely violates the dignity and humanity of its victims, and NHRIs have a unique and critical role to play in ensuring States respect the absolute prohibition under international law, which constitutes a central pillar of their international and domestic human rights obligations.” –  Maryam Al-Attiyah, GANHRI Chairperson 

The International Conference will feature three days of extensive in-depth exchanges between NHRIs from all regions, experience and knowledge sharing, examinations good practices and challenges, as well as input from other relevant stakeholders including UN experts, regional organizations, CSOs undertaking relevant work, and grassroots activists and Human Rights Defenders.  

Goals and Expected Outcomes of the 14th International Conference 

The goals of the International Conference include:   

• furthering the understanding of challenges by States in combating and preventing the risks and root causes of torture and other ill-treatment in practice; 
• identifying the ways in which NHRIs can reduce and eliminate the risks and incidence of such practices, by means of their broad mandates and protective functions under the Paris Principles; 
• identifying good practices and challenges, including with respect to the occurrence of torture and other ill-treatment in non-traditional settings and situations; and 
• exploring how States, GANHRI and regional networks, UN and regional agencies and mechanisms, civil society, and others, and work together and in effective and complementary ways to tackle the scourge of torture and other ill-treatment in their respective jurisdictions and regions.   

At the conclusion of the International Conference, NHRIs will set out a practical set of strategies to promote and protect the rights of all persons to be free from torture and other ill-treatment, in an Outcome Document.