The award ceremony for the 2024 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding human rights defenders worldwide – will be a highlight of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to be held in Strasbourg from 30 September to 4 October 2024. An overall winner will be selected from among three shortlisted candidates. The winner of the 2022 Prize Vladimir Kara-Murza, recently released from detention in Russia, will also make a statement during the ceremony.
Other highlights include debates on the detention and conviction of Julian Assange and their chilling effects on human rights; on propaganda and freedom of information in Europe; and on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor - Ukraine once again faces the threat of genocide. There will be a joint debate on a shared European approach to address migrant smuggling and on clarifying the fate of missing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
There have also been requests for urgent debates on "The deteriorating situation of human rights, rule of law and democracy in Azerbaijan", on "Missing persons due to the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine: prisoners of war and civilians in captivity" and on "The emergency healthcare and humanitarian situation of women and children in Gaza".
The Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Timcho Mucunski and new Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset will address the Assembly. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, President of the Committee of Ministers, will present the traditional communication from that body and answer questions from members.
The Assembly will also debate the situation in Iran and the protection of Iranian human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states; preventing and combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Europe; and protecting the human rights and improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation.
There will also be debates on the Council of Europe Development Bank’s work to implement the Reykjavik Declaration, with a statement by the Bank's Governor Carlo Monticelli; on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina; on the risks and opportunities of the metaverse; and on guaranteeing the human right to food.
The Assembly is due to adopt its final agenda on the first day of the session.
Politics
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Polad Aslanov, founder of the religious website xeberman.com, who went on hunger strike in the colony on 4 November, was forcibly transferred to the Penitentiary Service hospital in the evening of the same day. This was reported to Turan by his wife Gulmira Aslanov.
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The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Azerbaijan is pleased to announce the preopening of the Ukrainian Center in Baku, scheduled for 9 November 2024 at 12 pm. The Ukrainian Center, originally established to promote Ukrainian culture, language, heritage and education in Azerbaijan, has been renovated and expanded to better serve its mission.
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The health condition of activist Nijat Ibrahim has sharply worsened while he remains in Baku's Detention Center No. 1, his wife Parvin Ibrahim told Turan news agency. According to her, Ibrahim called today to report severe back pain, and he can barely move. Recently, his blood pressure has also risen, and doctors have diagnosed him with hypertension.
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On Sunday, November 5, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Kyrgyzstan to participate in the 11th Summit of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States. Upon his arrival at Manas 2 International Airport in Bishkek, Aliyev was greeted with a ceremonial honor guard and welcomed by Kyrgyzstan’s Prime Minister and Chief of Staff, Akylbek Japarov, along with other officials.
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