Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.23
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
The US embassy in Azerbaijan welcomes the resumption of the Joint Working Group on Human Rights in Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev's decree to pardon prisoners, including four human rights activists, a message posted on the official website of the US embassy in Azerbaijan said on Oct.23.
"We share Azerbaijan's desire for a stable, secure and prosperous future and remain convinced that the best way to achieve this goal is to guarantee the rights of all citizens to exercise the fundamental freedoms to which they are entitled under Azerbaijan's international obligations," the embassy said.
The Joint Working Group on Human Rights has resumed its activities in Azerbaijan at the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland.
The decision on resuming the activity of the group was adopted during a meeting held with participation of human rights activists, MPs and other officials on Oct.22.
The name of the group has been changed to the Joint Working Group on Human Rights.
Head of the Department on Work with Law-Enforcement Bodies of Azerbaijan's Presidential Administration, Fuad Alasgarov and MP Samad Seyidov were elected the co-chairs of the joint group.
Saadat Benenyarli and Sahib Mammadov were elected secretaries of the group.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree pardoning 84 people on Oct.17. Former members of the NIDA movement, Shahin Novruzlu, Elsever Mursalli and Bakhtiyar Guliyev, as well as the NGO's head Hasan Huseynli are among the pardoned prisoners.
Edited by SI