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The U.S. delegation, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Thomas Melia, called on the Azerbaijani authorities to dialogue with civil society and the opposition. As the information agency Turan reports, he told about it at the press conference on 18 April on the results of the meetings with government officials, civil society activists and opposition members.

Melia said that during the meeting, he expressed concern over the arrest for freedom of expression and assembly, and called on to release these individuals.

He expressed regret over the impossibility of meeting with the leader of the REAL, Ilgar Mamedov, who met last time. Melia said he would like to meet with Mamedov in jail, but did not receive answer to his request.

According to Melia, he called on the Azerbaijani authorities to stop the pressure on civil society activists, and remove obstacles for the activities of NGOs. He noted the importance of providing condition for the structures committed to democracy, and in particular the Free Though University.

Regarding the future of the National Democratic Institute in Azerbaijan, Melia said that this week the representatives of this structure had meetings with Azerbaijani officials, and expressed the hope that the issue will be clarified.

Melia also said that annual report on human rights situation in Azerbaijan will be released tomorrow.

As the Azerbaijani news agency Turan reports, on April 18 the U.S. envoy Christopher Robinson spokes in Vienna at the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on the closure of the Free Thought University facility in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Free Thought University was the first organization to receive the Ambassadorial Award for Freedom of Expression over the Internet from the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, which was awarded during the 2010 Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

According to Robinson, on April 11, Ambassador Morningstar gave a speech in support of the Free Thought University because, as he put it, it “offers a delightful forum for thoughtful, engaging discussion – the kind of thing one finds at any good university campus.

Christopher Robinson noted that the United States urges the Government of Azerbaijan to uphold its international commitments and obligations to ensure that its citizens’ universal freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression are respected and protected.

In the evening on April 10 "Free Thought University" of Azerbaijan circulated a message in Facebook stating that its doors are sealed by the representatives of the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan. On April 11, the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar met with a group of representatives of the university: "I have been troubled by the government's reaction to protests this year, including the arrest and interrogation of youth active in protests and in civil society movements. I was particularly disappointed to hear that authorities closed Free Thought University's office just last night."