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Kremena Koutsoukou

Ombudsmen from Mediterranean countries gathered at a meeting in Athens, in order to achieve transparency in serving citizens.

Through the exchange of ideas and practices Ombudsmen seek solutions to major problems faced by citizens, namely, corruption and transparency. "State agencies to resemble a mirror, in which citizens can be inspected without shame, calls Vice-President of the Association of Mediterranean counterparts Enrique Herzog.

Countries represented signaled the problems facing most citizens. Greek defender of civil rights George Kaminis announced the pressing issues in the country related to poor conditions in prisons and the treatment of illegal immigrants, adding that Greece has taken measures to solve those problems. Professor Kaminis calls for continuous monitoring of the human rights situation.

In Portugal percentage of complaints related to delay in issuing judgments is very high. The country has repeatedly been sanctioned for the slow process also by the court in Strasbourg.

In France categorizing and structuring of appeals is done and this helps the undertaking of corrections of laws and the constitution of the country. According to the Secretary of the association Jean Paul Delavoye free public access to public documents reflect reality and is extremely essential.

"Alarming messages are sent by the modern European society and it must rebuild a system of common values." This view of the Spaniard Alvaro Jill Robles, a former European Commissioner for Human Rights, was shared and all participants agreed about the proposals to implement precise school programs designed to acquaint and inform the younger generation about the problems of migrants and to encourage them to accept differences of different cultures and religions. Change in society is required, in the thinking of the citizen as a separate entity and a general need to build values that give a chance for equality. Only then all attempts that a country makes for the preservation of human rights, will gain a real sense, and democracy will not collapse.

The association of ombudsmen from the Mediterranean countries exists from 2006. The two-day meeting in Athens is the third in line after the meetings in Rabat in 2006 and in Marseilles in 2008.