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“Establishment of the Human Rights House in Baku is a priority for 2007” was one of the conclusions of the annual meeting of HRHF in Zagreb, held in November 2006. The representatives from HRH Baku, taking part in the meeting, shared with the results and conclusions with the other members of HRH Baku. (04-DEC-06)
 

16 female students of Sumgait State University applied to DEVAMM with the complaint of not being allowed to the classes for having their heads covered with the headscarves.  The students told that they have been under psychological pressure for a long time, but recently the pressure started to be more aggressive. The chair of DEVAMM Hajy Ilgar Ibrahimoglu (on the right) organized the Monitoring Group of 20 people to make a research of the issue. (18-NOV-06)
 

One more attempt of journalists to conduct an unauthorized picket was cruelly dispersed by police. The reporters were protesting the authorities’ attempt to evict Azadlig daily from its building and other media organizations located in the same building. About 70 people were detained during the action of protest. Some of them were released after fines and warnings. (16-NOV-06)
 

The international media watchdog organizations are concerned about the media situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Reporters Without Borders says that the measures taken by Azeri authorities show that they are taking a harder line towards the independent media despite the appeals from press freedom organizations, the European Union, the OSCE and the United States. The Committee to Protect Journalists state that they view the closure of ANS and the eviction of opposition news outlets as a clear assault on the independent media. (28-NOV-06) 
  

The report the nongovernmental corruption watchdog Transparency International, published on the 6-th of November, ranked Republic of Azerbaijan for the130th place out of 163 world’s most corrupted countries. The index ranks 163 countries by their perceived levels of domestic corruption in the public sector. As usual, at the top of the list are several Scandinavian countries, such as Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. (08-NOV-06)
   

StOn the 27-th of November, the national organization – the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety – released a statement, condemning the closure of ANS and the illegal and aggressive eviction of all organizations from the Azadlig Newspaper´s building. IRFS believes that this is by far the cruelest step that Azerbaijan´s government has taken in its attempt to strangle off the independent press.  The article contains the full text of the statement. (28-NOV-06)
 

The International Crisis Group published a new media release “Azerbaijan: Attacks on Media Hurt Conflict Resolution “. The release supposes that the obvious deterioration of the media freedom and human rights impacts the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in a negative way. See the article with the text of the media release. (27-NOV-06)
 

On the 27-th of November, Baku-based analyst of the International Crisis Group, Vugar Gojayev, released the article “Azerbaijan: Authorities silence outspoken media”. The author analyzes the current pressure on media, referring to the most recent facts of attacks on mass media. The full text of the article is given below. (27-NOV-06)
 

The students of the Independent Republic of Azerbaijan University continue the hunger strike since the 21-st of November. The protest is held for restoration of the students’ rights for education. Despite of the numerous calls of the respectful people to stop the action, the students insist on the their struggle until the victory. The health state of several students has already been significantly worsened. (26-NOV-06)