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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Archive AzerbaijanStatement of Azerbaijan National Platform on increasing pressure against civil society in Azerbaijan 20 November 2013 Pressure against civil society in the Republic of Azerbaijan has increased amid the 9 October 2013 Presidential Elections. Domestic and international organizations monitoring situation of fundamental human rights face aggressive reaction of the government. Country's television uses insulting and threatening language against international organizations, which stated that the election failed short of transparency and fairness, particularly the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The first repression wave of the government also targeted domestic election observation organizations, which released critical reports reflecting numerous cases of election violations. Number of activists, journalists, human rights defenders and politicians faced intimidation and harassment prior and during the election, while some were arrested based on politically motivated grounds such as possession of illegal substances or firearms.
Azerbaijan: The Eastern Partnership Roadmap to the Vilnius Summit Status Report 14 November 2013 IN THE RUN-UP to the Presidential elections of 9 October 2013, the basis for a free and fair election was not in place: the freedom of assembly was restricted, civil society’s activities systematically curtailed, and journalists harassed and intimated. On the policy level, public consultations do not feature in the policymaking process in Azerbaijan. However, in some cases, government agencies invite pro-government civil society organisations to closed-door consultations. In 2013, the EU delegation made several attempts to bring the Civil Society Forum national platform and the government together for discussions on thematic issues, but without success. The government was expected to participate in the discussions of the Venice Commission’s Proposals on NGO law of Azerbaijan, but did not attend. An exception was the development concept on “Azerbaijan 2020: the Vision of the Future”, where consultations with civil society did take place, although not on the text of the concept itself.
Azerbaijan National Platform - Statement on Presidential Elections 19 October 2013 The National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum of Azerbaijan notes with great regret that voting and counting in the presidential elections of 9 October 2013 were conducted with serious violations, as reported in the results of observation by OSCE/ODIHR, local observation organisations, and monitoring of the elections by the members of the National Platform. Moreover, during the pre-election period and on Election Day, the fundamental rights of citizens were violated, in particular the persecution and arrests of civil society and opposition activists. The entire election process was impeded by the unauthorised interference of police and local in the nomination and registration of candidates, the pre-election campaign, voting and vote-counting.
STATEMENT of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society on socio-political situation in Azerbaijan on the eve of Presidential election 08 October 2013 Following the observation of the last two stages of the presidential election to be held on October 9, 2013, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum expresses its regret that equal opportunities for all the candidates were not provided in the pre-election period allowing them to communicate with their voters through television broadcasts and meetings. Also opposition political activists were persecuted in the election period.
CSF welcomes EP decision to observe Presidential Election in Azerbaijan 06 September 2013 After protests from human rights defenders the European Parliament (EP) yesterday (September 5th) decided to reverse a decision taken in July not to observe forthcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan and to send an observation team to assess the whether the poll will be free and fair.
The European Parliament will not be sending observers to the Azerbaijan presidential elections 18 July 2013 The European Parliament (EP) will not be sending observers to the Azerbaijan presidential elections in October, a key EP committee decided on July 13. The decision came as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), a part of the OSCE, finally received a formal invitation from Azerbaijan and starting recruiting its core team for an observation mission in the Caspian oil and gas rich state.
Positive and negative consequences of Azerbaijan’s WTO accession process assessed 05 July 2013 The WTO accession process of Azerbaijan, which applied to become a member of the organisation in 1997, but since then has more or less shelved the process in the hope of more favourable terms of accession, is assessed in this policy paper.
ODIHR still waiting for invitation to monitor Presidential elections in Azerbaijan 26 June 2013 The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has yet to receive a formal invitation from the Azerbaijani Government to observe the October presidential elections in the country.
Silent or public diplomacy concerning the EU's approach to Azerbaijan? 20 June 2013 Anar Mammadli, chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre in Azerbaijan and member of the EaP CSF Steering Committee, discusses the upcoming visit of the Azerbaijani president to Brussels on 21 June 2013 in a comment on European Voice.
Pressure grows on EU leaders to put human rights firmly on their agenda for talks with Azerbaijani President on June 21 20 June 2013 Several EU non-governmental organisations voiced their support for the letter send by a coalition of Azerbaijani NGOs to the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy calling for the use of a human-rights based approach vis-à-vis Azerbaijan.
Cost of Borders in the Black Sea Region analysed at Conference 18 June 2013 A conference organised by the EaP CSF member organisation "Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy" (PAAFE) in Baku on 30 May 2013 showed that reforms in the area of removal of barriers hindering the free movement of goods, services, capital and people are rather slow.
Azerbaijani NGOs call EU not to forget human rights during meeting with Azerbaijani President on 21 June 2013 18 June 2013 A coalition of Azerbaijani NGOs, many of them members of the CSF and the Azerbaijani National Platform, calls on the EU to use a human-rights based approach vis-à-vis Azerbaijan.
Election of CSF participants to Chisinau meeting 01 June 2013 The Azerbaijani National Platform has conducted its election of participants to the Civil Society Forum 2013 in Chisinau on 1 June in Baku. In order to increase transparency of the selection procedure, a video stream of the discussions has been organised, which is available in Azerbaijani here.
Statement of the Azerbaijani National Platform on the arrest and torture of activists 16 May 2013 The Azerbaijani National Platform decries the arrest and torture of three activists who were arrested during their participation in a peaceful action on 30 April organised under the slogan "No terror" to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the incidents in the Azerbaijani State Oil Academy.
Azerbaijani National Platform decries attempts to create “atmosphere of fear” ahead of elections by increasing punishment for administrative offences 10 May 2013 The Azerbaijani National Platform of the EaP CSF issued a statement severely condemning a proposed legislative amendment that would extent the administrative detention period for a certain group of administrative wrongdoings thereby restricting human rights in Azerbaijan.
Statement of the Azerbaijani National Platform on Detention of Activists 10 April 2013 The National Platform of Azerbaijan has issued a statement on the detention of seven young members of the NIDA Civic Movement by Azerbaijani authorities.
Civil Society Defence Committee was restored in Azerbaijan 15 February 2013 One hundred NGOs objected to changes in legislation project at the Public Forum
Public Forum on Political Freedoms was held by EMDS
Model of youth participation in “Eastern Partnership” discussed in Baku 04 October 2012
Azerbaijan National Platform launches project on effective systems of public finance control 12 September 2012
Assessment of Conformity of Organizational and Operational Aspects of Municipalities in Azerbaijan With Principles and Requirements of European Charter 05 March 2012
Report on the Activities of the Azerbaijani National Platform in 2012 30 November 2012
The full report is available here.
Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility 2011 Call on Public Finance Policy and Management 22 December 2011
EaP CSF Statement on situation in Azerbaijan 13 October 2011
EaP CSF Azerbaijan National Platform held a conference in Baku 20 September 2011
Baku Conference Eastern Partnership in 2 years Successes and Challenges 18 May 2011
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