Human rights in Azerbaijan not respected - former member of the delegation to PACE

Baku / 28.02.18 / Turan: The situation in Azerbaijan with human rights is depressing and continues to deteriorate, said Gultakin Hajibeyli, a member of the Coordination Center of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), former member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE, in her interview to the Azerbaijani service of the Voice of America, commenting on the statement of the Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov at the UN Human Rights Council session on the favorable situation in Azerbaijan with human rights.

Whatever Mamedyarov said from the UN rostrum, there are objective assessments of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, Hajibeyli said.

"There are international organizations that assess the situation with human rights and freedoms in the world. If we proceed from the reports of these structures, the state of affairs in Azerbaijan with human rights is not only unsatisfactory, but intolerable," Hajibayli said.

According to her, in Azerbaijan, the situation with human rights has never been as depressing as it is now. Thus, the number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan exceeds the total number of all political prisoners in Europe, including Russia and Belarus.

Freedom of speech, expression is not protected in Azerbaijan. People are being persecuted for dissent.

Hajibeyli only partially agrees with Mamedyarov that the Internet is free and 80% of the population have access to it.

"The Internet, unlike other media, is the last opportunity for people. However, this possibility is limited to other means. First, Azerbaijan has an extremely low Internet speed. Secondly, hundreds of people were subjected to various penalties, including arrest for using Facebook. There are Facebook activists who received up to 10 years of imprisonment. Therefore, it is not necessary to talk about freedom of the Internet in Azerbaijan.

Hajibeyli also considers allegations about gender equality in the country as incorrect. So, there is not a single female minister in Azerbaijan.

At the same time, Hajibayli agreed with Mammadyarov on the Karabakh issue and the fact that the European Union and the world community must demand in hard terms that Armenia withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. But Baku's efforts are also insufficient.

"Azerbaijan instead of integration into the world community, rejects the EU's outstretched friendly hand, pursues a policy of self-isolation and this is the biggest blow to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict," Hajibeyli said. -06D--