The Department to Fight against Terrorism of the U.S. State Department noted some successes by the Azerbaijani government in the fight against terrorism, the proliferation of biochemical threats, money laundering, and strengthening border controls.
Special 2011report by the Department noted the Government of Azerbaijan completed modernization of its Central Reference Laboratory, a state-of-the-art bio-safety facility that will make joint research on potential bioterrorism threats possible. Through the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation Prevention Program, the Azerbaijan government assumed responsibility for the sustainment of seven radar stations along the Caspian coast used by the Navy, Coast Guard, and State Border Service on order to conduct maritime surveillance and detect smuggling threats. On border security, the State Border Service installed new portal monitors during its upgrade at the Ganja international airport, a project assisted by the Department of Energy's Second Line of Defense Program (SLD). Azerbaijan also launched the National Communication System pilot project, a new SLD initiative to centralize information received from portal monitors at various border crossings.
According to a report, the Government of Azerbaijan has demonstrated an increasing level of professionalism in anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing (AML/CTF) since 2009, when it adopted AML/CTF legislation. Azerbaijan continued to work with MONEYVAL to address the full range of AML/CTF issues identified in its Mutual Evaluation Report.
Throughout 2011, working groups composed of representatives of Azerbaijan and the other four Caspian Sea littoral states, met to coordinate law enforcement efforts aimed at countering terrorism as well as smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and organized crime on the Caspian. This work followed up on a November 2010 security cooperation agreement among the Caspian Sea littoral states.
In 2011, as part of this agreement, four working sessions of the groups took place. –01D06—
Politics
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A new draft agreement on financing climate programs, unveiled at the 29th session of the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP29), proposes allocating at least $1.3 trillion (€1.23 trillion) annually for climate protection measures and adaptation to the impact of climate change, according to a 34-page document released on Wednesday. The draft, developed with input from developing nations, aims to address the needs of the world's poorest countries, though several contentious issues remain unresolved, AFP reported.
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On November 13, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Afghan Taliban held talks in Baku as part of the COP29 conference. According to a report by Turan correspondent, the discussions took place behind closed doors and lasted for over an hour. No statements were made to the press following the meeting. Furthermore, conference security prevented journalists from asking questions to the meeting participants.
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Kichikhanim Khalilova, the wife of arrested public activist and first-group disabled person, Famil Khalilov, reported being followed during her time at the COP29 conference on November 13. She had been accredited in the "Green Zone" as a civil rights activist. From the moment she entered the conference area, a young man began to follow her.
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The imprisoned journalists of Abzas Media have had their phone calls with relatives reduced from 15 minutes to just 2 minutes. This restriction is reportedly linked to the ongoing international climate conference COP29 in Baku.
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