Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD), who is preparing a report on “Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: what follow-up on respect for human rights?” for PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, is to visit Baku from 8 to 9 April 2015. Mr. Agramunt is due to meet the Justice Minister, the Prosecutor General and the Chair of the Supreme Court and other judges. He will also meet the Working Group on Human Rights of the Milli Mejlis, and the head of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration.
Preparation of a report was imposed on Agramunt by PACE Committee in June 2014 after complaints of local activists about the problem of political prisoners. This coincided with the beginning of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
During the presidency of Azerbaijan the situation has not improved, and even worsened: human rights defenders who informed the Council of Europe on the issue of political prisoners - Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov, Leyla Yunus, were arrested. Another human rights defender Emin Huseynov, fleeing from unwarranted prosecution, forced to take refuge in the Swiss embassy.
At the end of 2014 she was arrested, and the journalist Khadija Ismayilova who continued their activity was arrested.
All this time, Agramunt remained silent and did not come to Azerbaijan. Only in March, he, along with other co-rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee, Tadeusz Iwinski Polish counterpart he visited Azerbaijan. At the same time, they avoided making public statements and held a press conference.
Agramunt is famous among local civil society activists as "lobbyist of the Azerbaijani authorities" in PACE. He was an active opponent of the report by Chrystof Strasser in January 2013 on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Immediately after the failure of this report, in Azerbaijan, began a new wave of arrests of activists, journalists, blogerov.-06D-
Politics
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On November 15, animal rights activist Kamran Mammadli was detained while staging a protest at the COP29 climate conference. Mammadli was protesting the shooting of street dogs in Azerbaijan. He raised a sign above his head that read: "Azerbaijani authorities are shooting dogs on the streets!" He also shouted: "Resign those who teach youth to be sycophants under the guise of volunteerism!"
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The United States has been working with Azerbaijan for a long time on energy issues and fossil fuel emissions, particularly focusing on technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and help transition to clean energy, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm stated at a press conference on November 15 during COP29 in Baku, in response to a question from Turan about how the U.S. can assist Azerbaijan in its transition to renewable and green energy.
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On November 15, the Baku Appeals Court heard the complaint filed by Ulvi Hasanli, the director of the Abzas Mediapublication, against Baku's pre-trial detention center -1 detention facility and the Penitentiary Service. The complaint concerns poor conditions of detention, inhumane treatment, and restrictions on Hasanli’s rights while in custody. Representatives from both institutions failed to appear in court.
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On November 14, a debate took place in the German Bundestag discussing the "horrific" human rights situation in Azerbaijan and COP29. Following the discussions, members of the Bundestag called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release political prisoners, including Gubad Ibadoglu, Anar Mammadli, Samir Ashurov, and all others detained for political reasons. The debate was initiated by Member of Parliament Frank Schwabe. In his speech, Schwabe emphasized that the COP29 conference was being held in Baku against the backdrop of severe human rights violations.
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