OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN, SAMOA Samoa’s Second Universal Periodic Review  The Optional Protocol for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.6  The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).7  The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on a communications procedure.8  The Optional Protocol to the CRPD.9 Recommendation 2: That the Samoan Government ratify and implement the CRPD. 2.2 National framework 2.2.1 Establishment of the NHRI 5. One of the key developments in the protection and promotion of human rights in Samoa since the first cycle of the UPR is the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman as Samoa’s NHRI. The Samoan Government should be commended for enacting legislation which provides the NHRI with a broad human rights protection mandate, in accordance with the Paris Principles.10 6. Since its inception in 2013, the NHRI has collected data via community consultations and focus groups, as well as via the NHRI’s Human Rights Survey 2014-15 (the Survey) which provided the NHRI with a valuable snapshot of the state of human rights in Samoa. The NHRI submitted the SHRR to the Samoan Parliament, published its first Detention Centres Inspections Report, and has recently submitted its first submission to a human rights treaty body, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, for Samoa’s second to fourth CRC periodic review.11 These reports contained a number of recommendations to the Samoan Government on how to ensure compliance with its international human rights obligations. The NHRI has the mandate to inspect places of detention of Samoa and inspected all of Samoa’s places of detention in January 2015. The Office report can be read at http://www.ombudsman.gov.ws/ . The NHRI already has the powers, functions and capacity to act as the Torture Prevention Mechanism for Samoa. Accession to OPCAT would therefore be a straightforward process. 6 Opened for signature 19 December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171. 7 Opened for signature 6 October 1999, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol 2131, p 83. 8 Opened for signature 28 February 2012, the UNTS number has yet to be determined for this record. The official text can be found at https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/No%20Volume/27531/A-27531-0800000280309665.pdf [accessed 15 September 2015] 9 Opened for signature 30 March 2007, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol 2518 p 283. 10 See Part IV of the Ombudsman (Komesina o Sulufaiga) Act 2013 which outlines the mandate for the NHRI. 11 See publications tab at http://www.ombudsman.gov.ws. 5 4