UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst held Press Conference in Baku. He unclosed the initial results of studies on human rights in Azerbaijan.
UN official showed disrespect for the journalists during the Press Conference discriminating among journalists, AzVision.az reports. He created opportunities only for the representatives of the opposition-controlled media institutions to ask questions.
Michel Forst`s behavior generated outrage among journalists.
A group of journalists, including correspondent of `APA` news agency Ramiz Mikayiloglu, correspondent of `Publika.az` new portal Vasif Hasanli, correspondent of `AzVision.az` website Elvin Abdulgadirov, correspondent of `Trend` news agency and other Mass Media representatives expressed their complaints to Michel Forst.
` The so-called report covers only the positions of the oppositional NGOs, parties and media institutions. And this is biased and provocative due to the norms`, stressed the journalists faulting Michel Forst.
Despite journalists` insistence, Michel Forst avoided answering the following questions:
The report seems unserious and appears as a report by NGOs. It only implies the criticism of government. Why does not your report note the measures taken by the government towards human rights?
- Several expressions are similar with ones in an International NGO report and repeated word by word in most cases. Don`t you have your own approach?
- Arrest issues are also stated in the report. Have you ever studied those facts?
Why has the issue on the rights of refugees not been raised in the report? You noted that your mandate deals with all kinds of human rights issues. You have mentioned nothing about the two Azerbaijani hostages held in Armenian captivity. How can you explain it?
Such an indifference by the UN Special Rapporteur against the journalists` questions shows the non-transparency and unfairness of the report.
During the Press Conference Michel Forst tried to avoid questions with short answers saying `it is not my business` and outmaneuvered mostly to the opposition-controlled media representatives`. These facts show that the report on Human Rights Situation in Azerbaijan has been prepared without any comprehensive investigation. The so-called report mostly focuses on the biased information of an NGO.
The UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst arrived in Baku on Sept 14. He is to conclude his investigations on the situation of human rights defenders on Sep 22.
AzVision.az
Journalists protest against UN Special Rapporteur
22 September 2016
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