20 December 2012 - A human rights manual for the armed forces, produced by the UN Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau, UNIOGBIS, in collaboration with its partners, was validated this week in Bissau at a seminar organised by the Human Rights Section of UNIOGBIS.

The manual is meant as a support tool for human rights trainers within the armed forces. Its creation came in response to the realization, following training courses done with the military, that knowledge of human rights within the armed forces was highly inadequate, according to Human Rights Officer Augusto Domingos da Costa, focal point for defence and security affairs within UNIOGBIS' Human Rights Division.

The manual comprises five chapters: an introduction that takes a look at the military profession; the constitutional and legal status of the armed forces/the armed forces and the law; the armed forces and human rights; the armed forces and groups in special situations; military justice.

It was completed in November 2012 with the incorporation of modifications proposed by UNIOGBIS' partners. These include the Defence Ministry, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Higher Military Council; certain specialized agencies of the UN such as the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR; the Bissau Faculty of Law; and various NGOs such as the Association of Friends of the Children, AMIC, and the National Network for the Fight against Violence against Women, RENLUV.

The validation ceremony was organised on 18 December by UNIOGBIS. Participants included national authorities and actors that are involved in the area of human rights on the ground and which work with the military, such as the National Human Rights Commission, various NGOs, and the Association of Former Combatants.

The UN was represented by UNIOGBIS' Security Sector Reform Department and Human Rights Section.