The UK delivered a statement during Azerbaijan’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.
“The United Kingdom welcomes Azerbaijan’s engagement in the UPR process and their increased protection to those affected by landmine contamination. We encourage Azerbaijan to advance post-conflict reconciliation particularly the protection of displaced persons,” the statement reads.
«We remain concerned at restrictions to freedoms of expression and assembly, as highlighted by the case of Dr Gubad Ibadoglu. We urge Azerbaijan to improve human rights protections for all,” the statement continues.
The UK has put forward three recommendations within the framework of the UPR on Azerbaijan:
-Ensuring that all allegations of human rights violations against human rights defenders, civil society activists and journalists, and detained foreign nationals are investigated effectively and transparently, including pending unresolved cases requiring urgent attention.
-Removing Articles 147 and 148 from the Criminal Code, which stipulates liability against journalists for slander and insult, as committed to by Azerbaijan in 2001.
- Adopting necessary legislation in the Criminal Code to criminalize all forms of domestic violence.
Politics
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The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD), a joint program of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has called for the urgent release of activist Rufat Safarov from prison in Azerbaijan. It has launched a campaign in support of the Azerbaijani human rights defender. https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/arbitrary-detention-and-judicial-harassment-against-rufat-safarov
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This year, the laureate of the annual Nargiz Prize, awarded for efforts in the fight for democracy, was Akif Gurbanov, chairman of the board of the Resplatforma (Platform of the III Republic) movement, who is under arrest.
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The U.S. will prohibit the issuing of visas for nearly a dozen more individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia, bringing the total number to over 100, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has expressed condolences to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following the tragic incident in the city of Magdeburg. "We are deeply shocked by the news of the deaths and injuries resulting from the tragic incident that took place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg," the message reads.
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