Ali Hasanov is reminded his previous promises

A group of civil society activists of Azerbaijan sent   an appeal   to Ali Hasanov, the head of  the  socio-political department of the Presidential Administration about  the anniversary of his memorable meeting with the leaders of NGOs.

Then the meeting was presented as a dialogue between authorities and civil society. During the meeting  more than 80 proposals were made.

Hasanov promised to consider them and to continue the dialogue on the topics. But nothing like that happened and all the hopes of civil society to address the problems have been dispelled.

Moreover, the situation has deteriorated. 

On February 15, 2013, amendments were made in the legislation, under which NGOs not having the state registration, were prohibited to get financial and other material support.

In addition, NGOs is not prohibited to get donating in cash. They must inform the Ministry of Finance of people who provided donations. For violations in this area, large fines   are provided  for even unintentional technical errors.

On November 2, 2012  and on  14 May, 2013, amendments were made in the law about toughening  penalties and time of arrest for violation of the rules of the demonstrations. These measures further restricted freedom of assembly.

The authors of the appeal call on the authorities to fulfill their promises, and to continue the dialogue in order to solve the existing problems in the development of civil society, to respect its   appeals and initiatives.

The appeal was signed  by  15 civil society activists and human rights defenders, including Rasul Jafarov, Emin Huseynov, Intiqam Aliyev, Annagi Hajibayli, Anar Mammadov, Mirvari Gahramanli, Azer Mehdiyev, Hafiz Hasanov, Fuad Hasanov, Samir Kazimly, etc.—06d--