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A new set of changes to laws on NGOs that complicate further the formal procedures needed to maintain an NGO, in particular for what concerns financial matters, was signed into law by President Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, the Italian news site Balcanicaucaso.org says. The amendments caused concerns. Hafiz Hasanov , chairman of the Law and Development Public Union, believes these changes will give a carte blanche to regional executive committees and other “surveillance” organs to intervene in the work of non-governmental organizations, as well as that of other religious and political institutions in Azerbaijan.

The author wonders, why more pressure and penalties when existing conditions for NGOs are challenging anyway? Is it really transparency at stake, or something else? “2013 is the year of presidential elections in Azerbaijan. Since January of this year the country has witnessed a large number of demonstrations, protests, self-immolation , arrests, detentions, sudden disappearances, accusations and more. And yet, it is the youth, the few working civil society groups, the West and the opposition who are held accountable for all of this. And though it seems that many in the country are aware of the clouds ahead, the local authorities refute any “bad weather conditions,” predicting only sun and clear sky,” the author writes.

Согласно статье, на любого, кто дает неблагоприятные прогнозы, в Азербайджане вешают ярлык агента Запада, хулигана, человека с плохими намерениями. В частности, отмечает автор, глава президентской администрации Азербайджана Рамиз Мехтиев обвинил международные и местные СМИ в подстрекательствах и помощи антиправительственным силами.

According to the article anyone getting in the way of this weather is labelled an agent of the West, a hooligan, who has no good intentions at heart for his or her country.

“In addition to the difficulties faced by the local non-governmental institutions, rumor has it that the OSCE and NDI are to leave Azerbaijan. But these are just rumors and, so far, both institutions are open and working,” the publication reads.

According to the author, with the upcoming presidential elections and the presence of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) as a possible observer, a downsizing OSCE’s mission and a narrowing of its focus to conflict mediation and other non-democracy work is likely to happen. As for the NDI, according to the article, this structure is responsible for allegedly disturbing stability in the country by financing a two million dollar “Facebook revolution”.

“Mehdiyev didn’t leave social networks out of his fiery speech. Not only did he say that “social networks radicalize youth, organize them, and by ‘paying’ them, stimulate their engagement in illegal actions,” but he also dismissed any remote possibilities that the views expressed through these social networks are that of the larger population,” the author writes.

According to the article no one knows yet what this will mean for the users of social networks in Azerbaijan. “So far, Azerbaijan refrained from banning access to any of the networks, however, as the time draws close to the elections and the pressure from the government grows, there are no guarantees,” the publication says.

According to the author, given the present picture, dark clouds are hanging over Azerbaijan and the promised clear skies are nowhere to be seen.

It should be noted that in February 2013 Azerbaijani parliament adopted amendments to toughen control over the use of grants and donations from NGOs, religious and other structures. According to the amendments fines are severely increased for non-registered contracts, benefits from foreign NGOs without the grant agreement, etc. As Turan notes in reality it means a further tightening of many human rights and democratic NGOs in Azerbaijan. Many of these NGOs do not have state registration because of the authorities refuse. However, they receive grants from foreign donors. Now, state bodies of Azerbaijan will refuse the registration of grant agreements, referring to the fact that the NGO do not have a state registration.