British Minister of State met with group of Azerbaijani human rights defenders

Baku/23.11.23/Turan: British Minister of State for Europe and North America Leo Doherty met with a group of local human rights defenders and lawyers during his visit to Azerbaijan on November 22.

During the meeting, the human rights situation, the arrests of Gubad Ibadoglu and the leaders of "Abzas Media", as well as the process of the "4th Universal Periodic Review" (Human Rights Council) on Azerbaijan were discussed, British Ambassador to Azerbaijan Fergus Auld wrote on the social network X.

The meeting was attended by human rights defenders: Rasul Jafarov, Zohrab Ismail, lawyers: Bahruz Bayramov, Zibeida Sadigova and Galib Bayramov (brother of Gubad Ibadoglu).

Rasul Jafarov told Turan that the human rights situation was discussed during the meeting. They talked about practical and legislative restrictions in the activities of civil society, steps to rehabilitate the defendants in the "Terter case" who still remain in prison, the importance of signing a peace treaty with Armenia, which in the future can positively affect the democratic processes in the region.

"The Minister of State was informed about the human rights situation and expressed hope that the problems would be solved," Jafarov said.

According to lawyer Bahruz Bayramov, along with human rights issues, problems related to ensuring the rule of law were also discussed.

"The Minister of State paid special attention to the case of Gubad Ibadoglu, explaining that Ibadoglu taught at the British university," Bayramov said.

As for the "Universal Periodic Review", it is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council and every 4-5 years discussions are held on the human rights situation in a country for each UN member. –03B06-