Baku/17.09.20/Turan: The Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) has refused the invitation of Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev to hold a meeting on civil society on September 17.
More than 50 representatives of NGOs were invited to the one and a half hour zoom meeting.
“In expressing our appreciation for the invitation, we are informing the public that we have refused to meet,” the IDI said in a statement.
The IDI justified its refusal as follows:
The purpose of the refusal is not to avoid any dialogue or to evade the meeting, but rather that we do not consider the chosen format of the meeting useful. We believe that the minimum condition for the format of the meeting should be the presence of a predetermined topic, which can be useful for turning into reality and mutual dialogue. We believe that not only solving individual problems can be helpful, but also real institutional changes.
The IDI refuses to meet in the current format, but believes that if the government intends to show real political will in solving problems, then without meeting with us it can solve the following institutional problems.
The activities of civil society organizations in Azerbaijan are based both on Article 58 of the Constitution and on the right to freedom of association, as reflected in international documents to which the country has joined. Azerbaijan has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and in these documents freedom of association is considered a fundamental right. Article 22 of the Covenant and Article 11 of the AIXC state that everyone has the right to associate with others. Thus, ensuring the activities of civil society is also the responsibility of the state.
On October 10, 2007, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) adopted Recommendations No. 1006 and an explanatory memorandum on these recommendations to define the scope of legislation related to the right to freedom of association (especially legislation regarding NGOs). According to this document, legislation, policy and practice should be formed in Azerbaijan in accordance with the minimum standards stipulated by the recommendations regarding NGOs as members of the Council of Europe. The main documents that should be taken into account are also the opinion of the CE Venice Commission on the legislation of Azerbaijani NGOs dated December 12-13, 2014 and the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the violation of the right to freedom of association, in particular, in relation to Azerbaijan.
Practically speaking, at present the main problems of civil society are the issues of registration and financing of NGOs. The expectation of civil society organizations from the government is related to the need to abolish restrictive amendments to the Law “On Non-Governmental Organizations (Public Associations and Foundations)” (2000), Law “On Grant” (1998), Law “On State Registration and State Register of Legal Entities” (2003), Law “On Voluntary Activity” (2009) and the Code of Administrative Offenses, which were introduced in 2013-2014, and a return to the situation before 2013. The procedure for registering non-governmental organizations should also be simplified, with the term of 3 days, which is practiced for the registration of commercial organizations.
In addition, in order to create an NGO, it is necessary to remove restrictions that are not provided for by law, but are applied in practice, such as obtaining consent from the executive body (ministry), which controls the scope of its activities.
The procedure for receiving grants for NGOs should be simplified; registration for grants from foreign donors should not be required. It is enough for the NGO to simply inform about the received Grant. The right of international organizations and other foreign donors to provide a grant on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan should also be ensured.
Registration is not required for donations, and donations over 200 manats can be made without a bank transfer.
In the capital and in the regions, conditions should be created for the free activity of NGOs; for activity in the regions, a permission not provided for by law should not be required from any executive body.
In conclusion, the IDI notes that the political authorities should view independent NGOs as a partner in solving social problems, and not as a competitor that would pose a threat to their power, as well as make real efforts to eliminate the possibility of persecution of civil society leaders and checks at the border, bans to leave the country and provoke black PR campaigns.—0—
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