The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has published a review of the changes made to the legislation of Azerbaijan on NGOs. According to radio "Azadlig", the report, published on December 15, said that on September 29 the Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland Tyornborn asked the VC to give an opinion on the adopted amendments. The paper noted that the delegation of the VC could not visit Azerbaijan to get acquainted with the situation, in spite of the pre-sent an appeal to the authorities of the country.
On October 15 Secretariat sent a message to the authorities to accept and assist the delegation, but an invitation from the official Baku has not been received. For this reason, the visit did not take place. Thus, the President approved the changes, without consulting the views of the VC, the report notes.
It is further reported that in Azerbaijan there are 2700 registered, and about one million unregistered NGOs. Independent NGOs dealing in human rights in recent years are repressed, and their situation has worsened.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muzhnieks also noted the deteriorating situation for NGOs in the country in light of the tightening of legislation.
The country's authorities have ignored all previous recommendations of the VC regarding the NGO legislation. Moreover, representative offices of foreign NGOs working in the country were subjected to pressure.
"Such restrictions have negative impact on civil society, and especially those involved in human rights and democracy," reads the report.
The VC considers wrong the adopted restrictions on branches and representative offices of foreign NGOs, and considers it necessary to simplify the procedure for registration of local NGOs to cancel adopted so far restrictive amendments. It is also necessary to reconsider the amendment restricting the funding of NGOs by foreign donors. Interference in the internal structure and function NPOis unacceptable. -16D-
Politics
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On September 18, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with a delegation led by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Joshua Huck. The meeting focused on issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the regional situation in the post-conflict period, and the prospects for normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Despite efforts to create a positive dynamic in bilateral relations and cooperation prospects, biased opinions from certain U.S. officials negatively impact our bilateral relations," the statement noted.
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Dozens of international human rights organizations have sent a letter to Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Perri to urge him not to ratify the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE due to increasing repression following the presidential elections on February 7 and the parliamentary elections on September 1, 2024, which have led to unprecedented repression.
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On September 19, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade will travel to Russia to participate in the XX International Muslim Forum. The event, themed "The Path to Peace: Dialogue as the Basis for Harmonious Coexistence," will take place in Moscow on September 21. The visit is at the invitation of the Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin.
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Economist and PhD candidate at Istanbul University Fazil Gasimov has been on a hunger strike for 97 days at the Penitentiary Service Medical Facility. On September 17, he was visited by representatives from the Baku office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to his lawyer Rovshan Rahimli. The lawyer stated that the Penitentiary Service is applying pressure on Gasimov to end his hunger strike.
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