ECRI: Persistent adversarial narrative against Armenia continued in  Azerbaijan

ArmInfo.Notably, persistent adversarial narrative against Armenia, which is rooted in the context  of the long-lasted conflict and confrontations related to Nagorno-Karabakh, has continued, and the public discourse has been marked by the use of inflammatory rhetoric in public statements by politicians, including at the highest political level, and other public figures, as well as by the wide dissemination of hateful content, in traditional and social media, says the Council of Europe anti-racism body ECRI in its report published today.

Thus as the CoE's official website reports, the reports reads, in  part: "Over the past seven years, Azerbaijan has developed good  practices in education and migrant integration, but more needs to be  done in the fields of legislation and tackling hate speech.

Since the previous report adopted in March 2016, progress has been  made and good practices have been developed, the report says. Human  rights related topics have been integrated into school curricula. The  authorities' efforts to regularise the legal status of migrants  irregularly present in Azerbaijan have yielded positive results and  notably led to a 10% reduction in the number of these persons in the  country. The Law on Information, Informatisation and Protection of  Information now prohibits Internet providers and individuals from  distributing any information promoting violence, religious extremism  or inciting hatred and obliges them to take down and remove such  illegal content within eight hours. Significant efforts were invested  into the integration of migrants and ensuring their access to public  services and benefits available to them. The issuance of work and  residence permits were also simplified and accelerated by electronic  procedures. Migrant workers with permanent residence enjoy the same  social protection rights as Azerbaijani nationals, while refugees are  entitled to access the labour market since 2020.

ECRI welcomes these positive developments in Azerbaijan. However,  despite the progress made, some issues give rise to concern. ECRI  makes recommendations to the authorities to address them.  The  authorities should adopt an effective general anti-discrimination  legislation covering all grounds and areas of life, including the  grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex  characteristics. The authorities should also take further measures to  ensure institutional independence and increase the effectiveness of  the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman).

 When it comes to countering hate speech, ECRI shares the grave  concerns expressed by other international bodies, including the  Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and the UN  Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, about the use  of a language in the public sphere that propagates racist stereotypes  and perpetuates animosities. Notably, persistent adversarial  narrative against Armenia, which is rooted in the context of the  long-lasted conflict and confrontations related to Nagorno-Karabakh,  has continued, and the public discourse has been marked by the use of  inflammatory rhetoric in public statements by politicians, including  at the highest political level, and other public figures, as well as  by the wide dissemination of hateful content, in traditional and  social media. In addition, anti-LGBTI statements have also become a  common occurrence. The prevalence of stereotypes and prejudice  against LGBTI persons have exposed them to hate- motivated violence,  which resulted in several serious incidents.  

The authorities should therefore reinforce their responses against  hate speech by setting up an inter-institutional working group to  develop a comprehensive strategy to tackle effectively racist and  LGBTI-phobic hate speech. In addition, public figures should be  strongly encouraged to take a prompt, firm and public stance against  the expression of racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech and react to  any such expression with strong counter-speech messages and  alternative speech.

There is still no systematic data collection on the number of  reported incidents of racist or LGBTI-phobic hate crimes. The legal  framework on hate speech falling within criminal law remains limited  and criminal action is seldom taken. The authorities should set up a  comprehensive data collection system and make the data available to  the public, ECRI says. 

With regard to integration and inclusion, in close cooperation with  local authorities and civil society organisations, the authorities  should adopt a comprehensive integration strategy for migrants,  including persons who are seeking or have been granted international  protection. The authorities should also evaluate the situation of the  Roma community with a view to developing a Roma-specific strategy,"  they concluded.