During the works of the Meeting held from 23 to 24 September, issues related to the enforcement of the right to free association and meeting, the role of national institutions for human rights protection and of the civil society to protect and promote human rights in the community were addressed.

In his speech, the Moldovan ombudsman addressed the latest events happening in Moldova and the statements made by him about the protests happening in the capital of the country. Mihail Cotorobai mentioned that he asked the authorities to not admitviolations in ensuring the fulfilment of the right to meetings and to freedom of expression, and that protesters should act in strict observance of the law. The ombudsman spoke about the experience of the Ombudsperson Office in terms of cooperation with the civil society in the protection and promotion of human rights. Mihail Cotorobai brought, among others, the example of organization by the Ombudsperson Institution, last July, of an international conference on the implementation in Moldova of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, in which representatives of NGOs in this area had an active participation. The ombudsperson also spoke about the forum of the NGOs organized by the Ombudsperson Office, in which the representatives of the civil society were invited to cooperate.

The ombudsman also took part in the discussions about the right of association of the militaries, the policemen, the carabineers. He talked about the operation of the National Mechanism for Prevention of Torture and the latest evolvements in our country in terms of ensuring equality.