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Civil Society Defence Committee was established on 11 June 2009 to achieve complete removal of the proposed amendments to Azerbaijan’s law “On Non-Government Organisations (public unions and foundations)” from the agenda and work plan of Milli Mejlis which is intended to be discussed at its extraordinary session on 19 June. The Committee is composed of the NGOs working in various spheres.

Freedom of association and the rights of human rights defenders are at risk of being severely curtailed in the Republic of Azerbaijan, should a set of amendments to the republic’s Law on Non-Governmental Organizations be adopted by the Azeri parliament, right, tomorrow. The South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders and members of the Human Rights House Network express their concern in letters of concern, below.

The Human Rights House Network is highly concerned about the draft amendments to the Law of Republic of Azerbaijan “On Non-governmental organizations (public associations and foundations)” that are due to be discussed on 19 June by the Parliament of Republic of Azerbaijan.

The South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders is alarmed about the draft amendments to the Law of Republic of Azerbaijan “On Non-governmental organizations (public associations and foundations)” that are due to be discussed on 19 June by the Parliament of Republic of Azerbaijan.

In a press release issued today, the Council of Europe expresses concern about some of the proposed changes to the legislation regulating non-governmental organisations and media in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Amendments as proposed, which will be reportedly submitted for parliamentary decision this Friday, may create serious obstacles for the freedom of expression and normal functioning of the civil society in the Republic of Azerbaijan. They may even lead to the closing of the Council of Europe School of Political Studies in Baku.

On June 9 the Legal Policy Committee adopted the amendments to the Law on NGO (Funds). Several human rights organizations are concerned that if the proposed changes are approved, the work of non-governmental organisations in the Republic of Azerbaijan will be severely limited and restricted. Right, the Azeri parliament assembled.

The monitoring of the judicial system of Republic of Azerbaijan conducted by the Institute of Peace and Democracy (IPD) has revealed some key problems and gaps in the national judicial system. IPD concluded that even though the courts are created on the basis of the laws, they do not correlate with the criteria of ‘quality of law`.

The Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway held the awards ceremony on Wednesday, 3 June, for the Gerd Bucerius Prize for Press Freedom in Eastern Europe and the Stiftelsen Fritt Ord prize for Press Freedom in the Russian Federation.

On 10 May 2009, Radio Liberty correspondent Durna Safarli, “Yeni Musavat” newspaper employees Afgan Mukhtarli and Layla Ilgar, and “Yukselish Namina” newspaper employee Elchin Hasanov were harassed by police when they attempted to cover protests by a group of local youths.