On the 18th of February the Civil Society Defense Committee held its next meeting at the CNIS office. The participants evaluated the strategy and activities of the Committee directed to the prevention of the signing into the law by the President of the legal amendments adopted by the Milli Majlis on the 16th December 2013. They  stressed that in spite of the successful mobilization campaign and the whole series of consistent activities during this period  and support of the major international actors, both governmental and non-governmental, the President  Aliyev has signed the amendments,...


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We, the members of the National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum of Azerbaijan condemn the verdict by the Lankaran District Court against Yadigar Sadigov, the adviser to the head of Musavat Party. Sadigov has been sentenced to six years in prison and the verdict is the result of the lack of an independent judiciary in Azerbaijan. The presidential elections year of 2013 has made the human rights picture in the country darker. The number of the political prisoners has again exceeded one hundred persons. Hooliganism, drag and weapon possession has made the list of trumped-up...


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Catherine Ashton, Vice-President, European Commission, and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Council Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Martin Schulz, President, European Parliament Ministers of Foreign Affairs, EU member states 20 February 2014   EU cannot delay any longer an intensive, long-term strategic commitment to Ukraine and immediate despatch of special EU envoy EU should use targeted sanctions, including freezing bank accounts, against individuals responsible for violence against...


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In response to the number of restrictive amendments to the NGO law adopted by the Azerbaijani Parliament- Milli Majlis in the end of December and as a follow up of the last conference by the CNIS and CLI the group of leading NGOs ( among them Public Intitiave Center, Center for National and International Studies, Azerbaijan Chapter of Helsinki Civil Assembly and many others) decided to restore created in 2009 the Civil Society Defence Committee ( CSDC) . It was agreed to conduct a series of activities directed to the prevention of signing of the amendments into the law by the president of the republic....


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A meeting was held on 26 December, 2013 by joint arrangement of Centre for National and International Studies and Centre for Law Initiatives about the current situation and future of civil society in Azerbaijan and the last legislative changes in the context of Universal Periodic Review. In opening speech the head of Centre for National and International Studies Dr. Leila Alieva emphasized about the functioning of the civil society in Azerbaijan under pressure during 22 years of independence. She underlined the importance of such meetings that the monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations...


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