The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muzhnieks holds meetings with representatives of civil society today. In particular, he had a two-hour conversation with the Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) Leila Yunus. In an interview with Turan, she noted that Muzhnieks was particularly interested in violation of property rights and political prisoners.
Yunus in detail informed the Commissioner about the massive violations of property rights, forced evictions, corruption and illegal orders of the Mayor and the head of the State Property Committee. Yunus referred to the Mayor of Baku on the construction of the so-called "Winter Boulevard", in which the territory of demolition is constantly expanding. Thus, by order of 24 September 2009 it was supposed to demolish the housing on 4 streets, on February 16, 2011, they already meant 6 streets. In another decree, they mention 12 streets, Yunus said. According to Yunus, in recent years in Baku there have been violated property rights of about 100 thousand people and the process continues.
On the issue of political prisoners, she said the situation worsened immediately after on January 23 PACE refused to adopt the report by Christoph Strasser on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Today, the number of political prisoners is more than 80 people.
Muzhnieks also met with the lawyer Fuad Agayev and got interested in the situation of leader of the REAL Movement Ilgar Mamedov. Agayev informed the Commissioner about the unfounded accusations against Mamedov, who was arrested in connection with the Ismayilly events. The Strasbourg court began consideration of the complaint by Mammadov about his illegal arrest out of turn.
During the meeting they touched upon the issue of violation of the property rights of citizens. About 15 complaints have been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights.
Muzhnieks also met with the blogger Ali Novruzov and during the meeting they discussed issues related to freedom of the Internet. -06B
Politics
-
"A group of hydrologists and engineers from Azerbaijan and Armenia, with our active support, is working together on a comprehensive water management scheme for transboundary rivers," the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mark Libby, wrote on the U.S. Embassy's social media account on November 12.
-
As the Biden administration draws to a close, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed on an emergency trip to Brussels to discuss how to support Ukraine with European allies.
-
The Prosecutor's Office is investigating the deaths of two people during the recent floods in Baku, Baku Mayor Eldar Azizov said commenting on the consequences of the flooding of tunnels in the capital during the heavy rains on October 22 to journalists. According to him, the sewer system could not handle the large volume of floodwater, which led to the drowning of two people in a tunnel in the Sabunchu district of Baku. The floods revealed vulnerabilities in Baku's water infrastructure.
-
The United States is ready to assist all countries, including Azerbaijan, in the transition to renewable energy sources, the U.S. National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said at a briefing at COP29, in response to a question from Turan about how the U.S. could support Azerbaijan in moving from oil and gas to clean energy.
Leave a review