Western Diplomats have supported the "Art for Democracy" Campaign

Yesterday evening the Baku Jazz Center hosted an evening dedicated to the second anniversary of the Club for Human Rights and to the establishment of a new advocacy campaign, Art for Democracy.

The event was held with the support of the British Embassy and the Civic Solidarity organization.  Representatives of civil society, youth activists, artists, journalists and lawyers, as well as Western diplomats attended. The adviser to the US Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Thomas Melia also attended the event. He said that he was happy to pass on to Azerbaijani Democrats the welcome from President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Support for democracy remains one of the top priorities of U.S. foreign policy, he said.

Art for Democracy, campaign coordinator, Rasul Jafarov said the Human Rights Club, the Institute of Reporters for Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and the Center for National and International Studies initiated the campaign, in order to promote the ideas of democracy and human rights through art.

The British Ambassador to Baku, Peter Bateman, welcomed the people, saying that human rights are central to the foreign policy of his country. He also announced the initiation of the British Government’s international campaign to combat violence against women.

With the British Embassy’s support, a video was shot with statements by representatives of the Azerbaijani public on the problem of domestic violence.  This video was shown at the ceremony.

French Ambassador, Pascal Monnier, welcomed the launch of the new advocacy campaign Art for Democracy. At the same time, he called it a success to previous campaigns, "Sing for Democracy", that was held during the Eurovision contest. This campaign has shown that to achieve success in the international arena it is also necessary to listen to the voices from the public.

After the welcoming speeches, the evening continued with stage presentations on the topic of violence, performances by young artists, and a show of cartoon drawings on the theme of human rights. -06C-