Head of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva answers the media's question

Question: Today is marked as Human Rights Day in Azerbaijan. What can you say about Azerbaijan's cooperation with international organizations in the field of protection and promotion of human rights?

Answer: Considering that the first “State Program on Protection of Human Rights” was approved by the national leader Heydar Aliyev on June 18, 1998 in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the protection of human rights was identified as one of the main directions of the state policy, by the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, dated June 18, 2007, June 18 is celebrated as Human Rights Day in the Republic of Azerbaijan every year.

First of all, we would like to emphasize that Azerbaijan is committed to the principles of universality, interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Constitution adopted on November 12, 1995 defined the provision of human rights and fundamental freedoms in our country as the highest goal of the state. The chapter "Fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms" of the document contains 48 articles covering a wide range of human rights.

As you know, our country is a party to major international legal instruments in the field of human rights. In addition to acceding to key international human rights instruments, Azerbaijan closely cooperates with international organizations to implement the provisions arising from them. Among these organizations, the UN contractual institutions operating in the field of the promotion and protection of human rights, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union hold an important place.

The protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms is on the agenda of the Government of Azerbaijan. Currently, as a result of the liberation of our lands from the occupation, which lasted for about 30 years, our country is faced with such challenges as ensuring the right of internally displaced persons to a safe and dignified return to their native lands, ensuring their social, economic, cultural rights, ensuring freedom of speech for media representatives working in the liberated territories and not having the opportunity to freely carry out their professional activities. In this regard, we again call on international human rights organizations to support the implementation of the trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on November 10, 2020, aimed at restoring good-neighborly relations in the region, and to refrain from demonstrating a selective attitude towards human rights and fundamental freedoms.