Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union Progress Report Project title: Reinforcing Human Rights Protection in Azerbaijan Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (sida)
Information in newspapers after the conference
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Information in newspapers after the conference.“Azerbaijan” State NewspaperMarch 16, 2004International conference on human rights In the Hyatt Regency Hotel International conference on Implementation of the European Convention of Human Rights in Azerbaijan and obligations of Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe organized by Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union together with Swedish International Development Agency and Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law under the Lund University, Sweden has started its activity. On behalf of the Organizational Committee on Preparation of the Conference Chairman of Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union Nadir Adilov informed that organizers ensured participation of all parties interested in the topic. Then Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Parliament – Mrs. Rabiyyat Aslanova mentioned that international documents adopted by the international organizations are the documents wished by the world. She also emohasized, that large part of the Azeri Constitution adopted in 1995 is dedicated to Human Rights. By continuing the speech with the words “Our government cooperates with international organizations and pays attention to their recommendations. We are member of the COE and we execute its recommendations”, also added that the Commission on Legal Reforms was established by the decree of the president. And the obligations taken before the COE are successfully implemented under the control of this commission. Ms. Gultekin Gadjiyeva – Parlamentarian, Member of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary group at PACE said that had a speech on obligations taken by Azerbaijan before COE. She said that COE member states have signed European Convention on Human Rights. The convention contains right to live, obligation to respect human rights, right to fair trial, right to marriage, etc. Also Intigam Babayev deputy minister of Youth, Sport and Tourism, Ali Huseynov – deputy of the parliament, international and national experts and NGO representatives participate.
Ombudsman confirmed tortures which happen in the “bandotdel”. Will the issue of closing this body raised in the parliament? The Conference dedicated to the application of European convention in Azerbaijan was completed. International conference on Implementation of the European Convention of Human Rights in Azerbaijan and obligations of Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe organized in Azerbaijan have been completed. The state bodies, parliamentarians, NGO representatives, lawyers and judges participated on the conference. The conference was conducted organized by Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union together with Swedish International Development Agency and Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law under the Lund University, Sweden We mention that the second part of discussions on the conference was dedicated to the practical application of several articles of the European Convention. These are Article 6 of ECHR – Right to a fair trial, Article 5 – Right to Liberty and Security, Article 11 – Freedom of Assembly and Association, Article 10 – Freedom of expression. We want to mention that different from the other countries the problem with registration of NGOs exists in Azerbaijan. Taking into account this problem, Head of the State Registration Office of the Ministry of Justice Mr. F. Mammadov was invited. After hearing all the complaints and suggestions he had a speech with comments. Yesterday also Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova joined the conference. Mr. F. Mammadov on his turn also mentioned that there is a problem with legislation and also NGOs sometimes fail to properly prepare their documents and submit to the Ministry of Justice. From the speakers, famous human rights defenders: Isakhan Ashurov, Ulvi Hakimov mentioned that their rights have been roughly violated by the Ministry of Justice and said that NGOs are not registered because of political interests. Human rights defenders noticed that this refuse from registration of NGOs violates citizens’ right to association and it, of course, is against the European Convention on Human Rights. I. Ashurov mentioned that the office headed by F.Mammadov should respond to the applications within 10 days but he received answer after 1000 (!) days. Advocate Aslan Ismailov also agreed with I.Ashurov and said that “I did not expect other answer from F. Mammadov because he is state official. Even if he knows laws, his position is very close to the stand point of the his Ministry. After Fikret Mammadov was appointed the Minister of Justice NGOs thought the problems with registration will be eliminated but it became even worse than in the period of Sudaba Hasanova. After that the discussions have been conducted on the application of Article 5 – Right to Liberty and Security in Azetrbaijan. Elmira Suleymanova’s speech on this topic caused dispute but she also gave interesting information. For example, she said that “Torture is really big problem for Aezerbaijan. There exist certain information about torture against persons arrested after the October disturbancies. But the concrete complaints concerning this problem haven’t been made to the Ombudsman Office. I also know that torture is committed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs Department on Stuggle against Organized Crimes. I do not and can not deny it. But these facts should be proved”. Participants had ambiguous reaction to the words of Ombudsman. Human Rights defender Sahib Mammadov said that Ombudsman have no enough power to solve any problem, “There was a radical Ombudsman in Ukraina. Government created obstacles for her. At the end she went on hunger-strike. I think that it would be better if E. Suleymanova would leave her position”. But other participants, Shahbaz Khuduoglu, Azer Hasrat – Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation, Chief secretary, lawyer Adil Ismailov, advocate Vugar Khasayev, Nizami Safarov and others criticized activity of Ombudsman office. Speakers at the same time had doubt about that E. Suleymanova does not have any facts about torture. For example, S. Khuduoglu said that when Igbal Agazadeh was arrested he was there and saw how Agazadeh was beaten. Azer Hasrat said that there are a lot of sources to obtain information about torture. Chairman of the “Legal State” Social Union Zulfiya Aliyeva mentioned that one of such sources is Mass Media. Ombudsman could use this source to get enough information about acts of torture. Later, Parlamentarian Mr. Gulamhusein Alibeyli talked about Implementation of Article 11 – Freedom of Assembly and Association – in Azerbaijan. Z. Aliyeva Activity: Pamphlets on ‘How to complain to Constitutional Court?’ Written in simple and understandable language, in order to reach as wide an audience as possible, outlining the “functioning of Constitutional Court and complaint mechanisms in case of human rights violations” the pamphlets aim at spreading information to a wider audience on the legal national and international remedies available. 5000 copies shall be published and distributed throughout the areas of Baku, Khachmaz, Lenkoran, Gandja and Ismayilly. As one of the achievements of the project implementation in 2003 is that AYLU involved to the preparing of the pamphlets the Constitutional Court and with the permission of the court the contact address of the Constitutional Court was given at the pamphlet at the end of the text. AYLU gave 500 units of pamphlets to the Ombudsman Office and Constitutional Court for the further dissemination. The pamphlets were disseminated among population, NGOs, Resource Centers, Academic Institutions, AYLU’s beneficiaries during the visits to regions, training and seminar participants, among library users and students. The pamphlets are also disseminated among refugees and IDPs in Baku and regions. The Logos of AYLU, RWI and SIDA had been placed at the pamphlet. Program Component 3: Information and Documentation Activity: “Young Lawyer” Magazine The 6 issues of the monthly newsletter ‘Young Lawyers’ was published in 2004. Furthermore the newsletter had been officially registered at the Ministry of Justice as a legal-informative magazine. The magazine provided information on the activities of AYLU, new national and international human rights standards and legal commentaries on such legislation, legal articles and analysis by young law students and professionals, FAQ etc. The ‘Young Lawyer’ furthermore informed the readers on educational activities abroad, fellowships and training programs in human rights. Encompassing 24 pages, the magazine included photos and well-designed. It was distributed in hardcopies among young lawyers (both at state and private universities as well as in the private sector) and be accessible at the AYLU:s website and will provide a useful tool for those in search for employment, traineeships, and updated information on the recent international and national legal developments. As we mentioned above AYLU saved money from the experts fee and as a results we extended the number of pages from 16 to 24, extended the amount from 200 to 300 and of course we achieved to publish the magazine in very high quality. Also we registered the newsletter as an official monthly magazine. Beside above mentioned the following rubrics had been covered at the 1st issue of the magazine:
Very many volunteers are also involved to the process of preparation and dissemination of the magazine. The magazine is distributing among governmental law enforcement bodies, NGOs, human rights related institutions, Parliament, Academic Institutions, Law students, young legal practitioners and others. It is envisaged that the newsletter shall be provided that the product is of high quality and is well received by its readership, the publication of the newsletter shall be extended for another six month. Directory: ngos ngos -> Press-release ngos -> February 2008 Prepared by: The Center for Democratic Renewal hate groups mainstreaming of the Far Right Download 204.05 Kb. Share with your friends:
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