Azerbaijani Human Rights Activists to Inform Council of Europe about Problems with Democracy

A group of Azerbaijani human rights activists will participate in the World Forum for Democracy, which will be held 27-29 November in Strasbourg.

In particular, as reported by the head of the Turan Azerbaijan National Committee of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) and co-chair of this organization, Arzu Abdullayeva, the group is scheduled to meet with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muzhnieks, members of the Monitoring Group of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and representatives of the various departments of the CoE and PACE committees.

The group may also include a meeting with the PACE rapporteurs on Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani human rights activists intend to bring to the Council of Europe examples of the deterioration in the country's human rights, the increasing the number of political prisoners, the serious problems with freedom of speech, press, expression, assembly and association.

On the eve of the country's accession to the chairmanship of the CoE Committee of Ministers, the CoE will be called upon to pay more attention to compliance with Azerbaijan's commitments to the organization .

With regard to the World Forum for Democracy, the agenda includes issues related to the new challenges of democracy in Europe - the downturn citizens' participation in the elections, the growth of distrust of citizens to their leaders as a result of corruption scandals, the widening gap between social institutions and society. Traditional forms of political participation yield their positions to social networks, allowing political and public figures to be constantly in direct contact with the population. Social networks facilitate the emergence of many communities of interest, but they are still hardly perceived as a platform for genuine democratic debate.

"In the state of social networks, who brought civil protests and democratic revolution, really gives a new impetus to the processes of representative democracy and the daily management of the company. What is the future of traditional forms of participation? How do new and traditional forms of participation complement each other?" is said in the press release from the Council of Europe.

To find answers to these questions, the Council of Europe invited politicians, experts, journalists, youth and civil society from around the world to participate in the second World Forum for Democracy under the slogan: "Renewing Democracy: to restore the link between social institutions and citizens in the digital age."

Speaking at the opening of the Forum will be French President Francois Hollande, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland, the Pakistani human rights activist and blogger, Malala Yousafzai, and others.

Speeches at the Forum - 2013 will focus on specific initiatives aimed at encouraging the participation of citizens in democratic processes.

The Forum is organized jointly with the City of Strasbourg , the French Government and the Alsace region, and will be held in the Council of Europe from 27 to 29 November. -06B-