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- 29 February 2016, 11:48
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Dispatches: Is Azerbaijan the Company the EU Wants to Keep?
The European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini visits Azerbaijan today to discuss deepening cooperation between the two entities. The visit comes two months after the transfer of the leading human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif, from detention to house arrest for medical reasons.
The government has done nothing to ease its aggressive crackdown on its critics.
Critics, or perceived opponents, convicted in politically motivated trials in the last two years, are serving long prison sentences, and some in detention can’t access essential medical care. Authorities intimidate and harass lawyers, political activists, bloggers, and relatives of journalists and human rights defenders who’ve fled into exile. Draconian rules prevent independent groups doing human rights work from securing foreign funding. As a result, victims of human rights violations who have relied on these groups’ legal aid and other services now have few options for meaningful recourse.
In a recent letter, six groups, including Human Rights Watch, urged Mogherini to use her discussions with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on a new Partnership Agreement to make clear that the government’s attack on human rights is incompatible with partnership negotiations. Mogherini should specifically call for:
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The immediate and unconditional release of all wrongfully detained human rights defenders, journalists and activists, including Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov, Khadija Ismayilova, Ilgar Mammadov, Anar Mammadli, Tofiq Yagublu, and Rauf Mirgadirov.
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Removal of unfair restrictions that prevent the Yunuses from traveling abroad for medical treatment.
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Repeal of legislation that restricts the legitimate work of independent organizations, human rights groups, and journalists.
Mogherini has a perfect opportunity to show the Azerbaijani leadership what kinds of partners are worthy of EU collaboration and cooperation. For the sake of human rights protection in Azerbaijan and the EU’s own integrity, I hope she uses it.
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- Question-answer
- 29 February 2016 10:45
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In Ukraine, a brutal, bloody war caused by Russian aggression continues, claiming lives, destroying homes, demolishing infrastructure, and inflicting incalculable harm on the environment and surrounding natural ecosystems. Ukraine, more than anyone else in this world, strives for peace, as we bear the daily brutality of this Russian-Ukrainian war. We are at the forefront of the struggle for the right to life, freedom, and justice. Ukraine seeks a just peace that will lay a solid foundation for a stable future for Europe and the World, and the only way of achieving this is to implement President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula (the Ukrainian Peace Formula).
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On the eve of a large-scale flood approaching Baku, a disturbing incident occurred in the village of Buzovna, where a Lada Priora car fell into the ground, literally collapsing the road beneath it. The driver miraculously remained unharmed but vowed to seek justice, promising to file an official complaint with the prosecutor’s office against Azersu OJSC, the state-owned water supply and sewerage company, often associated with deeply rooted corruption.
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In a bit of historic irony, powerful oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has managed to inspire rare unity across Georgia’s cacophonous political scene twice in his life. His money and influence forged the broad-based consolidation of opposition forces that brought him to power in 2012, and now, 12 years and three electoral cycles later, a similar pattern of opposition convergence could send him packing.
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Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin influencers have been spreading false information about alleged Reporters Without Borders (RSF) research into Nazi tendencies within the Ukrainian military, which was featured in a viral video falsely attributed to the BBC. RSF exposes the inner workings of a disinformation campaign designed to justify President Vladimir Putin's war narrative.
Donald Trampın yenidən ABŞ Prezidenti seçilməsinə Amerikadan baxış – Aleks Raufoğlu Çətin sualda
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