Mr President,
Sweden thanks the government of Azerbaijan for its rich and interesting report and His Excellency Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Khalaf Khalafov for a comprehensive presentation outlining the achievements and challenges in the human rights field facing Azerbaijan today.
Sweden would in this UPR framework like to raise four issues.
First, Sweden notes that civil society organisations and UN bodies have expressed concern at the treatment of prisoners, including physical maltreatment, over-crowding and access to education. We would be interested on hearing more on any concrete measure envisaged by the government to improve this situation and Sweden would in this context recommend the government of Azerbaijan to increase its efforts to ensure that detention conditions fully meets international human rights standards.
Secondly, civil society organizations have expressed concerns over charges by representatives of state bodies against journalists having a negative impact on the freedom of expression. Sweden would recommend the government of the Azerbaijan to ensure that all branches of the state, including agents of public authorities, fully respects and promotes the freedom of expression.
Third, Sweden is concerned by recent decisions to stop foreign media from broadcasting in Azerbaijan. In this aspect we would like to ask what measures is the government of Azerbaijan taking to ensure and promote a free media, and recommend Azerbaijan to fully uphold media freedom in accordance with international obligations.
Finally, Sweden have has noted concerns expressed by civil society on the freedom of assembly, and difficulties in obtaining permissions for peaceful assembly. Sweden would therefore recommend the government of Azerbaijan to uphold the respect the right to peaceful assembly and ensure that the right is effectively implemented.
Thank you Mr President.