Political news

• The international Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe established
• U.S. Formally Rejects Russia's Top Security Demands
• Human Rights Watch: Ali Aliyev's arrest is shame
• Southern Caucasus: measures to combat alleged violations of the rights of LGBT people
• Citizens of two more countries allowed to enter Azerbaijan by air

The international Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe established

Strasbourg/27.01.22/Turan: The Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe (CURE) was launched at the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on January 26.

Founders of the CURE are 14 civil society organizations from different countries. One of them is the Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Center (Azerbaijan).

It should be reminded that in the twentieth century, the Council of Europe managed to make significant progress in building a united Europe based on common values, says the statement of the founders.

According to the founders, member states have no systematic interaction on such issues as the prevention of human rights violations and the rule of law.

Therefore, the influence of the Council of Europe, including the Committee of Ministers, on serious and systematic violations is very limited. This leaves victims vulnerable and leads to impunity.

Besides, there are serious issues around the enforcement of ECtHR judgments by a number of member states which undermines the whole system of protection.

"In addition to these chronic issues, a number of crises have shaken the Council of Europe and its authority calling into question its ability to effectively perform its mission in countries with authoritarian governments, such as Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey," the statement said.

For these reasons, CURE's activities will focus on the issues as follows:

- More effective implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights and response to violations of Council of Europe norms and standards;

- Respond to cases where key ECHR judgments have been ignored and Committee of Ministers decisions have not been implemented by member-states;

- Influence member-states that systematically fail to comply with their obligations to the Council of Europe;

- Draw the Council of Europe's attention to anti-democratic trends in Europe.

Note that CURE will strive to make the Council of Europe a dynamic, transparent, sustainable organisation that promotes and guarantees rights and freedoms, the rule of law and democracy;

The ECtHR must operate more efficiently, adopt its decisions without serious delays;

Effective mechanisms for rapid response to crisis situations and reprisals should be available and applied;

The Council of Europe must have effective integrity mechanisms to protect itself against corruption and unethical behavior;

Civil society must be seen as an equal partner in the development of the Council of Europe's positions and decisions.

The permanent secretariat of CURE will be based in Strasbourg. Its founding members are as follows: Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (Bulgaria); Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine); Center for International Protection (France); Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden); EU-Russia Civil Forum (international network, secretariat in Berlin); FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights; Memorial Human Rights Center (Russia); International Commission of Jurists (Secretariat in Geneva); Moscow Helsinki Group (Russia); Netherlands Helsinki Committee (Netherlands); Norwegian Helsinki Committee (Norway); Public Verdict Foundation (Russia), YUCOM - Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights (Serbia) and Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Center (Azerbaijan).

* EMDTC is an organization engaged in promoting free elections; protecting political freedoms and forming democratic institutions in Azerbaijan.-06D-

U.S. Formally Rejects Russia's Top Security Demands

On Wednesday, Washington gave its response to Russia's demands, a move the Biden administration hopes will lower the tensions with Moscow.

John Sullivan, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, sent the response to the Kremlin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at the State Department, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Our responses were fully coordinated with Ukraine and our European allies and partners," he said.

However, it remains unclear whether the document will de-escalate the tense security situation along the Russia-Ukraine border, Blinken told reporters that it includes concerns "about Russia's actions that undermine security, a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground."

The document reiterates Washington's public positions as it has already ruled out Moscow's major requests: that NATO pull back its presence in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, and that Ukraine and Georgia be permanently barred from joining the military alliance.

"We will uphold NATO's open door and that's ... a commitment that we're bound to." Blinken said: "NATO's door is open, it remains open,"

Also, the document suggests "reciprocal transparency measures" regarding force posture in Ukraine, as well as nuclear arms control in Europe. The Biden administration has already made such proposals.

"We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend, including Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances," Mr. Blinken said.

Moscow has also demanded that the U.S. remove nuclear weapons from Europe and withdraw troops and weapons from former Soviet bloc countries that joined the alliance after 1997. Washington has deemed those demands "non-starters.''

The U.S. response "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it," Blinken said, adding that he expects to speak in the coming days with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, once Russian officials have read the American paper and are "ready to discuss next steps."

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.

Human Rights Watch: Ali Aliyev's arrest is shame

Human Rights Watch organization condemned the arrest of Citizen and Development Party leader Ali Aliyev. Rachel Denber, Deputy Director of Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch said:

“It is completely outrageous that Ali Aliyev had gotten a custodial sentence and is actually behind bars on defamation charges. Criminal defamation is wrong, It goes against human rights principles and international treaties that Azerbaijan is a party to. People should not go to prison on defamation charges. It is a very straightforward principle of international human rights law and a very straightforward aspect of Azerbaijan’s human rights committments. Moreover if you look at how quickly the proceedings went and circumstances under which they went, it seems pretty clear that the outcome was pre-determined.”-0-

Southern Caucasus: measures to combat alleged violations of the rights of LGBT people

The Assembly expressed its concern over the situation of LGBTI people in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, noting that “many infringements of these people’s human rights have been alleged or confirmed”. Those countries should adopt effective legislation and “policies to strengthen action against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual characteristics”.

While welcoming the progress made by Georgia in combating discrimination, as well as the opportunities that arise with the current democratic transition process in Armenia, the parliamentarians called on Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi “to guarantee the right to hold public events to support the rights of LGBTI people” such as Gay Pride marches, ensure that they can take place safely and “protect the participants from any violence”.

The adopted resolution, based on the report prepared by Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC), calls for the adoption of codes of conduct for the media and members of parliament “prohibiting stigmatising and discriminatory comments and hate speech targeting LGBTI people”. Effective investigations against LGBTI people should be conducted and cases of violence prosecuted.

The parliamentarians also called on the three Southern Caucasus states to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care and information and awareness-raising about sexually transmitted diseases; introduce procedures which allow transgender persons to change their name and sex on birth on documents; and to strengthen co-operation with civil society organisations working to protect human rights including those of LGBTI people, while guaranteeing their independence and protecting their safety and that of people working with them.

Citizens of two more countries allowed to enter Azerbaijan by air

Baku/27.01.22/T Citizens of two more countries, Belarus and Romania, are allowed to enter Azerbaijan by air.

Foreigners permanently residing in these countries, as well as stateless persons can also arrive in Azerbaijan by air transport.

Note that relevant changes were made to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers "On measures to extend the special quarantine regime and the removal of certain restrictions".

As a whole, the number of states whose citizens can enter Azerbaijan by air reached 68.

Land borders of Azerbaijan continue to be closed.-06B-