Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 2
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
The remarks made by the representative of the US Department of State, Jen Psaki, on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan don't reflect objective realities, the acting head of the press service of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend Dec. 2.
Hajiyev said Psaki's remarks are a part of the attempts to deliberately politicize human rights issues and turn them into a pressure tool.
"The rule of law and the fundamental rights and freedoms are provided in Azerbaijan in accordance with the constitution, laws and international documents joined by the country," Hajiyev told Trend.
He went on to add that Azerbaijan consistently continues democratic development, and there is no need for intervention and "recommendations" from the outside on this matter.
He said the racial controversies in the US gained a systemic nature, and as a result, the confrontation in the American society has deepened, there have been flaws in the judicial system, the police and law enforcement agencies use force disproportionately, violence has increased and there are serious problems in other areas.
"This is evidenced by the reasons of mass protests in Ferguson and other US cities, and the violence they were followed by," Hajiyev said.
"We believe that the Department of State representative, before making biased statements on Azerbaijan, should answer the world community's concerns over the human rights situation in the US," he said.
He added that the US should abandon such inappropriate statements, acting as a "patron" of human rights at international level, and pay more serious attention to human rights issues within itself in accordance with international commitments.
Edited by SI