[:hr]The fact that an individual is being imprisoned should not influence their rights as a father or a mother nor should it influence the rights of their children, stated Ombudswoman Lora Vidović speaking at the international conference Children With a Parent in Conflict With the Law: What is Their Best Interest? How to Make it a Reality?. The conference held on 20 May 2016 was organized by the Ombudswoman for Children Ivana Milas Klarić and the international organization Children of Prisoners Europe – COPE.
Ombudswoman Vidović discussed the topic at hand through the lens of the work of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), i.e. its mandate in the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. NPM has the mandate to monitor the work of 878 institutions in Croatia. This mandate includes the protection of the rights of the children whose parents are in prison as well as the protection of the rights of the children and minors deprived of their liberty. The Ombudswoman emphasized the fact that her office cooperates successfully with the special ombudswomen, including the Ombudswoman for Children. This interinstitutional cooperation includes joint visits to the institutions where persons deprived of their liberty are situated and contributes to the additional strengthening of the protection of the rights of the inmates’ children as well as the parental rights of the inmates themselves.
The rights of the children of prisoners and the children in conflict with the law are human rights, equal to the rights of other children, the participants concluded. The conference gathered eminent Croatian and international experts as well as the representatives of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and UNICEF.[:]