A round table conference on "Protection of the rights of minors in criminal juvenile proceedings" was held in Sukhum. The event was attended by representatives of Parliament, law enforcement agencies, procuratorial authorities, and civil society organizations. The Round Table was arranged by the non-governmental non-profit public organization “Children’s Fund of Abkhazia”. The main line of work for the organization is the protection of the rights of children in low-income households, protection of orphans, single mothers and juvenile offenders. 

In her speech, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Asida Shakryl, stressed the need for legislative reform on juvenile justice. “Protection of children is primarily a State responsibility. For the rights of children to be fully respected and protected, a lot of work needs to be done in the legislative sphere. We need to think of complementing the child protection legislation with the Code on the Rights of a Child. Having faced the problems of youth in our juvenile justice, I can declare that no work on promoting juvenile welfare is being done. The laws aimed at protecting the rights of children are yet to be developed. Enforcement practices are outdated and borrowed from Soviet Law. Programs are needed that will help develop synergies between local government institutions. Without a program that would outline responsibilities for each respective structure, the problems in juvenile crime will continue to be solved chaotically. It is also necessary to introduce proper civics education into the school curriculum, to teach young people the fundamental principles of human rights and how they can be applied in daily life.”

Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or another status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.