Baku hosts the conference on the implementation of the Human Rights National Action Plan in 2008

A conference on the implementation of the Human Rights National Action Plan in 2008 takes place in Baku on Friday. Addressing the conference, Human Rights Commissioner of Azerbaijan Elmira Suleymanova said 31 government institutions were responsible for the implementation of the National action Plan approved on December 28, 2006. 54 hearings were held in the past period and a working group was established for the implementation of the Plan. Suleymanova said Azerbaijan met the European standards in the field of Human Rights in recent years and improved conditions in the penitentiaries and protection of human rights of the prisoners. The Commissioner said nowhere in the world there were 8 acts of amnesty and 45 decrees of pardon in the short period. As a result of reforms, Azerbaijan reduced the number of prisoners to less than 200 per 100 000 population. Chief of the Department of President’s Office for Work with the Law-Enforcement Bodies Fuad Aleskerov said Azerbaijani citizens were using both local and international laws to protect their rights. He said Azerbaijan joined the number of important international conventions last year. The department chief reminded about the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and spoke about the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons in the country. Aleskerov said 61 new settlements were built for 17 000 internally displaced families. Azerbaijan applied the European Court of Human Rights for protection of the rights of more than one thousand refuges and internally displaced persons and expected for the international control over the restoration of their rights by Armenia. UN resident coordinator in Azerbaijan Bruno Pueza said he believed that Azerbaijan would completely fulfill all obligations taken before the UN Human Rights Council. Pueza urged all non-governmental organizations in Azerbaijan to work closely with UN.
He said they always supported Azerbaijan and highly appreciated the National Action Plan for Combating Human Trafficking in 2009-2010.