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Nine international organisations condemn the Azerbaijani government’s failure to comply with its international obligations to freedom of expression during the period surrounding the 7 November parliamentary elections.

Article 19 says that European Commission must enhance freedom of expression rights for internet users by ensuring that removal or ‘takedown’ of information is based on a court decision, not a private hosting company under financial threat.

Article 19 and International Media Support (IMS) urge the Ukrainian Parliament to demonstrate their commitment to transparency and public accountability by adopting a new Access to Public Information Law. The law had been scheduled for consideration on 2 November, but was unexpectedly removed.

Today marks two years since the arrest of Canadian-Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan in his parents’ home in Tehran. Index on Censorship, Article 19 and other organisations join in condemnation of Iran’s treatment of Derakhshan, sentenced to 19 and a half years for his writing and calls to sign the petition to free him.

Eleven international freedom of expression organisations have submitted an open letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev calling for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned Editor-in-chief Eynulla Fatullayev. Fatullayev’s continued imprisonment constitutes a breach of Azerbaijan’s international legal commitments and a violation of Fatullayev’s rights.

Ahead of Azerbaijan’s upcoming Parliamentary elections, nine organisations are launching a new report titled “Free Expression under Attack: Azerbaijan’s Deteriorating Media Environment”. The report findings come out of a joint freedom of expression mission to the country in September 2010 and highlight the Azerbaijani government’s failure to comply with its international commitments to promote and protect freedom of expression.

As Communist Party elders call for free speech in the People´s Republic of China, the government’s strict control of online content is supported by a finely tuned infrastructure of laws and censors. ‘Filter words’, ‘undesirable information’, self-censorship, state propaganda and a system of licenses is a daily norm for Chinese news websites.

Article 19 welcomes the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) recent adoption of a resolution and set of recommendations on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine. Article 19 urges the Ukrainian government to address PACE’s concerns without delay, specifically in relation to the right to freedom of expression.

Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the few member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) without an access to information law. As a result, public governance remains non-transparent. Free speech organisation Article 19 released its analysis of the draft Law on Access to Public Information which has been created by a group of Kazakhstani MPs and legal experts.