Public defender of rights Jana Dubovcová will have to rewrite the 2012 report on her office’s activities after parliament refused to approve it at its March 22 session, the TASR newswire reported.
The deputies decided to return the document to Dubovcová based on the advice of former labour minister and current MP for the ruling Smer party, Viera Tomanová, who said it was drafted inadequately.
“I believe that with this report you are undermining public confidence that you even have the skills, experience and moral competence to hold this office,” Tomanová said, as quoted by TASR.
Dubovcová, who substituted former MP for the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) Pavol Kandráč in 2012, is the first high-ranking state servant who questioned the procedure of Slovak authorities in cases of children who were taken from their parents abroad. Shortcomings were found also during the period when Tomanová was the labour minister, the Sme daily wrote on March 23.
The ombudswoman argued that she “pointed at specific failures of the state, loopholes in the socio-legal protection of children”, adding that she stands behind her findings. She also said that the ruling party is not entitled to dismiss her report according to the law, Sme wrote.
Dubovcová proposed several measures in her report, for example, more field social workers and reduction of red tape for them. She also wants to establish a house of human rights where her office, the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, the Centre of Law Assistance and the Nation’s Memory Institute would hold seats. All these institutions have encountered problems with their residence. The office of the public defender of rights pays over €220,000 in rent to the firm UTAR Technologické Centrum, which belongs to the family of former chairman of the Slovak National Party (SNS) Víťazoslav Moric, Sme reported.
Source: TASR, Sme
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
