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Freedom of expression, assembly and association are regrettably deteriorating in Azerbaijan, stated today Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, while releasing his observations on the human rights situation in the country, which follows upon his report published in August 2013. You can find the statement on the site of COE.

“I once again call on the authorities to pay urgent attention to these issues so as to comply with Azerbaijan's human rights obligations and commitments as a member state of the Council of Europe,” the Commissioner said.

He stressed that criminal prosecution of people expressing dissenting views continues unabated. “This is unacceptable. All those who are detained because of the views they expressed must be released,” he noted.

Muižnieks deplores in particular a series of arrests reportedly based on charges which lack credibility. This includes the arrests of Parviz Hashimli, a journalist with the Bizim Yolnewspaper, online activist Abdul Abilov and blogger Omar Mammadov. He is also concerned by the recent conviction of the journalist and minority rights defender Hilal Mammadov, as well as of Tofig Yagublu, deputy chair of the opposition political party Musavat, and Ilgar Mammadov, Chair of the Republican Alternative Civic Movement.

Commissioner noted that decriminalisation of defamation is included in the commitments of Azerbaijan and the legislation should be changed in order to comply with this requirement.

According to Muižnieks a further reason of concern are the additional restrictions to the activities of non-governmental organizations introduced by the law signed by the President of Azerbaijan on 3 February. Authorities should alleviate the administrative requirements for NGOs.

The Commissioner also expresses concerns about the arrest of Anar Mammadli, Chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center. He noted that these investigations appear to be linked to the problems of registration faced by his organization. “Less restrictive NGO legislation would enable NGOs to pursue their public watchdog function in an environment more conducive to their work,” he noted.

Furthermore, he drives the attention to a number of peaceful protests that have recently been dispersed by the police. Lastly, Nils Muižnieks expresses concerns that demolitions of houses and violations of property rights continued and calls on the authorities to ensure that "all persons affected by expropriations have access to an effective remedy at national level. Any further expropriations and demolitions must be carried out in a lawful and transparent manner and come with fair compensations, set at market value," the commissioner added.