Sergei Lebedev: “IIMDD IPA CIS efforts bode well for a professional assessment of the democratic level of elections in sovereign states”

Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Sergei Lebedev made this statement in his speech in Samarkand, the Republic of Uzbekistan, within the framework of the Asian Human Rights Forum “Outcomes of the 70^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Challenges of the Time and Reality”.

In his welcoming speech Sergei Lebedev noted: “The right of the citizen to elect and be elected, set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, found its reflection in the CIS Convention on Standards for Democratic Elections and Electoral Rights and Freedoms in CIS Member States, adopted in 2002. In 2006, the IPA CIS established the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations, and its activities today efforts bode well for a professional assessment of the democratic level of elections in sovereign states”.

The Forum was also attended by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Director-General of United Nations Office at Geneva Michael Møller, UN Secretary-General Special Representative, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia German, heads of national human rights institutions, representatives of expert community.