DUSHANBE, May 26, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The National Human Rights Institution (Ombudsman Institution) of Tajikistan has opened its office in Tursunzoda.

The Secretary General of Tajikistan’s Ombudsman Institution, Suhaili Qodirov, says the office has been opened in Tursunzoda under support of the Tursunzoda mayor’s office, the Right to Welfare international public association and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

A law establishing the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman was signed by the President in March 2008, and the Ombudsman, Zarif Alizoda, was appointed in May 2009.  The functions of the Human Rights Ombudsman institution include monitoring human rights in the national context, investigating and documenting rights violations, handling individual complaints, as well as providing advisory services including human rights education in school curricula.