Development Agency or Restrictions for NGOs?

Baku/20.04.21/Turan: The rights and obligations, as well as property of the Council for State Support of Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan are transferred to the Agency for State Support of Non-Governmental Organizations. In this regard, on April 19, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree.

According to the document, the new agency is being created with the aim of increasing the role of non-governmental organizations in the life of the state and society, organizing their activities in accordance with the challenges of the new time, improving the organizational and legal framework and mechanisms of state support carried out in this area.

According to some experts, structural changes are associated with a lack of finance in the structure. It is also reported that after the introduction in 2014 of changes in legislation related to the receipt of grants and the initiation of criminal cases against a number of non-governmental organizations active in the field of human rights and their leaders, the state of civil society in the country has deteriorated sharply.

However, will the replacement of the Council for State Support of Non-Governmental Organizations by an agency be able to solve problems in this area? Will independent NGOs turn green light in legislation and practice?

The report of the Accounts Chamber presented to the parliament for 2020 notes that there are shortcomings in the activities of the Council for State Support to NGOs. The report says that 26 cases of violation of legal requirements were identified in this structure.

The head of the public relations department of the Council for State Support of Non-Governmental Organizations Elmeddin Beibut said on his Facebook page that as a result of the shortcomings identified by the Accounting Chamber in the Council for 2017-2019, it was decided to return 174,475 manats of state funds to the budget. Of these funds, 23.612 manat are covered by NGO projects, 19.440 manat fees paid to experts working in the civil service, 118.623 manat to contracting organizations and 12.800 manat for inspections carried out by members of the Chamber of Auditors. We can say that NGOs and contractors returned the corresponding funds to the budget.

The chair of the Milli Majlis Human Rights Committee, Zahid Oruj, told Turan that the policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev since 2009 is characterized as building a new government. "That is, the activities carried out in specific areas can sometimes be called reforms, but we are witnessing that even large-scale events that played an important role in our victory in the Patriotic War have an obvious intention to take systemic steps in the nature of the management system, the general essence of state - civil relations".

According to all components, it can be said that both the attitude to the media space and the system of international relations are changing dramatically, the deputy said. “This is not only about the intention to form different elite. According to Mr. President, we must be able to present Azerbaijan in the international arena in a different image. "

Oruj noted that relations with non-governmental organizations are an important part of this. “True, we are chronically trying to say that during the leadership of Ilham Aliyev until 2010, relations with the West went through various stages, we say that at first it was a partnership relationship. In the subsequent period, during the export of color revolutions, relations deteriorated significantly.

At that time, a period of cold relations began against the background of non-recognition of the measures carried out by Azerbaijan in the region, the use of countermeasures against it in a number of cases; on the other hand, a period of cold relations began in the region against the background of the West's plans against the two leading centers of power and Azerbaijan's desire to take its place there. ... At that time, significant changes were made to the legislative system related to the media and the activities of NGOs”.

According to the chairman of the committee, in a number of cases, this affected not only representatives of the forces of influence and foreign circles acting here, acting as agents, but also organizations exercising public control with many years of experience in the third sector. The deputy stressed that if there were no pandemic and the Karabakh War II in 2020, then perhaps a year ago similar decisions would have been made to create an Agency for State Support to NGOs. “This step informs the society that the government is interested in activating civic associations, shaping their national life, i.e., in new relations in everything from the legislative system to governance, and also wants to strengthen them.”

Oruj regarded this as an expression of national will, since, unlike the Soviet period, the role of the organizations that we talked about is very important during relations with the West. “Yes, we knew that a significant part of the members of parties and movements moved to these structures. The public sector has been heavily politicized. Dirty money began to play a role here. In any case, today we should note the establishment of the agency, the adoption of new steps in management mechanisms as the intention of the state to open different pages in this area.

We want NGOs to respond positively to the government's calls for new approaches and cooperation, regardless of the direction of their activities. In this case, we will witness real changes. "

The head of the Civil Rights Institute, Bashir Suleymanli, told Azadlig Radio that certain changes are expected. "Since there are reports that the government has announced changes in the legislation in the field of civil society over the past year. True, there is no serious and effective activity yet, but at least the presence of meetings and discussions in some form indicates that the government is interested in doing some work in this area."

The expert believes that certain factors play a role here. “After changes in legislation, the activities of the civil society sector have been in a state of paralysis for 7 years. This is not beneficial to the government, which wants to look normal. Because there is international cooperation, certain cooperation with the European Union continues, and a partnership agreement is to be signed. With this in mind, the government is thinking about taking certain steps."

The human rights activist says that the main assessment of the structure can be given when members of the Agency's Supervisory Board are appointed and their activities are monitored. “Now it is difficult to say something. Of course, I do not expect that the democratic transformations we have outlined, serious steps related to the activities of NGOs, the steps taken towards the full provision of public control, will be at a high level. Perhaps, there will be certain changes; conditions will be created for the activities of NGOs in some area. "

There should be no structures that control the activities of NGOs and the media, Suleymanli said. “Because this area is more productive when it is independent. It would be better if the state simplified the registration of NGOs, removed the restrictions imposed by the legislation on the receipt of grants, and did not control them. True, and in this regard, there are sometimes reports, but there are no real steps yet”.

The expert noted that the negative precedents associated with NGOs of the past years are being repeated. “Because the paralysis of NGO activities and the initiation of criminal cases did not benefit the government itself. I think there will be attempts to 'neutralize' the activities of NGOs engaged in human rights and critical activities can be viewed as an attempt to take them under patronage. These attempts have been and will be always. But social activities are such an area where new people constantly come. Therefore, if today the government takes under its wing some organization dealing with human rights, then tomorrow there will be others. That is, it is impossible to take everyone under control." —0—