Post-conflict period creates new realities for human rights work – activist

Baku/13.02.21/Turan: The post-conflict period after the end of the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, has created a new realities for human rights, said the head of the Baku Human Rights Club, Rasul Jafarov, in an interview with the Voice of America Azerbaijani service.

The activist believes that at the beginning of the process of cohabitation and reconciliation, Azerbaijan must solve problems in the field of human rights.

The talk is about the problems of civil society.

“The post-conflict period cannot be imagined without civil society. The state has its own functions, the officials have their own functions, but the establishment of interpersonal relations is also a component of the process, and non-governmental organizations play an important role in this. In order to work comfortably on the territory of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh, it is necessary to resolve issues of civil society, amend legislation,” Jafarov said.

Ensuring fair justice and solving the problem of political prisoners are important tasks in solving human rights problems. According to him, in addition to these general issues in the field of human rights protection, there are also specific areas based on the experience of other conflicts.

“We know that the experience of other conflicts, past or current, shows that concrete action is needed in three areas: coexistence, reconciliation and transitional justice. Activities in these areas can cover a wide variety of activities. For example, from the establishment of truth and reconciliation commissions to measures to reduce the incitement to hatred. I think that measures to reduce hate speech should begin right now,” Jafarov said.

He stressed the importance of creating appropriate conditions for the work of civil society, international human rights and humanitarian organizations.

“Without this process, without these steps, we cannot talk about better protection of human rights in the post-conflict period and about steps in the right direction,” the human rights activist said.

Speaking about the support of the West for the protection of human rights and freedoms, Rasul Jafarov said that human rights in accordance with international agreements adopted after the Second World War are not an internal affair of any country.

In his opinion, the main expectations from Western countries are to discuss with officials issues of concern to human rights defenders and members of civil society, such as the state of the non-governmental sector, the judicial system, and the implementation of decisions of the European Court. He expressed hope that international non-governmental organizations will resume their activities in Azerbaijan.

"Until 2014, a number of Western organizations operated in Azerbaijan, and I think it would be good to gradually restore the activities of these structures," Jafarov said.

Jafarov said Western international organizations could act in accordance with their mandates in the post-conflict period.

“There has been an occupation for almost 30 years. There was many destruction in the occupied territories of Karabakh. There are environmental problems, the environment, property issues, and the process of migration, that is, the process of returning former displaced persons - all of this is ultimately linked to human rights. Therefore, projects and proposals from Western organizations, institutions or experts, individuals, celebrities are desirable to assist in resolving issues in these areas and the adoption of these initiatives by the government," Jafarov summed up.-06В-