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The oral examinations of the candidates to the position of judge were held on 31 July and 14 August 2007. Together with other human rights defenders, the Human Rights Center of Republic of Azerbaijan was invited to watch the examinations. The director of HRCA, Eldar Zeynalov (right) appreciated the exam conditions, however, he stressed the low level of literacy among some candidates, who passed the previous test and written examinations. (16-AUG-07)
 

Republic of Azerbaijan is the oil rich country with abundant natural resources. The start of big oil projects brings billions of dollars to Republic of Azerbaijan, but the question remains open – “does the population get equal access to these resources?” The different aspects of enormous wealth gap in the Republic of Azerbaijan is highlighted in the below article of freelance journalist Rovshan Ismailov (15-AUG-07)

Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Organization and Free Economy Assistance Center conducted the project “Monitoring of Projects on Use of Oil Revenues and Public Discussion of Results”. According to the project coordinator, Mirvari Gahramanly (right), the project was aimed at defining the level of transparency and effectiveness in the use of oil revenues in Republic of Azerbaijan. (10-AUG-07)

On the 3-rd of August, the representatives of the Human Rights House Baku were invited to the Ministry of Justice for the first time after the state registration in May 2007. The purpose of the meeting was to get acquainted with the activity of the Human Rights House Baku and to invite the organization for cooperation. (04-AUG-07)

The project titled “Azerbaijan Women Lawyers” started to be implemented by Education for Human Rights and Republic of Azerbaijan Women Lawyers’ Forum. According to the project coordinator, lawyer Irada Javadova (right), the project aims at learning the problems of women’s lawyers at work and organize further actions to fight against the obstacles. (01-AUG-07)

The Republic of Azerbaijan National Group of International Society for Human Rights prepared and published two publications for police. Published with the financial assistance of OSCE, the booklets (right) are devoted to the police duties in general and during disperse of non-sanctioned assemblies. The publications are based on extracts from national and international legislation. (30-JUL-07)

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights Center of Republic of Azerbaijan (HRCA) express their deepest concern about the conditions of detention and the legal status of detainees condemned to life imprisonment in the Republic of Azerbaijan. On 18 June 2007, in Qobustan prison, 38 inmates condemned to life sentence began a hunger strike to alert the authorities about their precarious situation. (27-JUL-07)

“The first “Solidarity Marathon” completed successfully”, said Emin Huseynov (right), the director of  the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety, which initiated this action. Covering the period of 22 June – 22 July 2007, the marathon was aimed at raising money to assist the families of the seven imprisoned journalists of Republic of Azerbaijan. It also served as an indicator of solidarity within Azerbaijan’s civil society and journalistic community. (24-JUL-07)

On 19 July 2007 the Political Cultural Center of Azerbaijani Women with the support of the Open Society Institute conducted the debates on the topic “What thinks our intelligentsia: where should we spend our profit from oil?”. The invited oil expert, coordinator of Coalition for Improving Transparency in Extractive Industries, Sabit Bagirov (right) mentioned that “within the scope of profit distribution, a wide range of issues should be covered first”. (21-JUL-07)

The new magazine titled “Leader-Woman” started to be published in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The magazine, covering the information about the activities of women’s organizations is the initiative of the Association for the Protection of Women’s Rights after D.Aliyeva. The magazine is also aimed at agitating the women’s input to the development of society. (20-JUL-07)

At the end of his 3 day’s visit to Republic of Azerbaijan, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth (right), held a press conference on the 17-th of July 2007. He addressed a number of human rights issues, but specifically focused on advocating the immediate release of Azerbaijan’s seven imprisoned journalists. (18-JUL-07)

Early September a ‘White Ribbon’ action, intended to combat domestic violence, was launched in Vologda region. The organizers strongly believe that if we can’t resist the home violence, we can at least reduce it. The most important thing is not to keep silent! For victims help lines were opened, where both women and men can get qualified help. (15-SEPT-07)