The week of November 28 – December 2 saw IDPs protesting the lack of central heating system in schools, mine clearance operations being carried out and civil society representatives objecting to the draft law “On Political Parties”
IDPs protest: “Our children are dying from the cold”
The central heating system, which was expected to start on November 15, did not start in the residential complex built for 810 internally displaced families in Kurdakhani settlement.
In 2019, two boiler houses were commissioned in the residential complex, which was inaugurated with the participation of the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev. Residents say that during the first two years, they did not experience any heating problems until this November.
Ibrahim Mirzayev, the head of the press service of the State Committee on the Affairs of Refugees and Forced Displaced Persons, says that the committee’s appeals on the issue have been fruitless. Although the electricity company Azeristiliktehizat signed the act of preparation for the operation of the buildings, it did not take the boiler houses into its balance sheet.
At a time when institutions are shifting responsibility, they are trying to heat the classrooms with electric heaters. Parents are already hesitant to send their children to school.
ANAMA’s November report: “2522 hectares of land has been cleared of mines”
The National Minesweeping Agency (ANAMA) announced that in November 2022, 2,522 hectares of land were cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance
ANAMA noted that mine clearance operations were carried out in Tartar, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Khojaly, Khojavand, Lachin, Shusha, Fuzuli, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan regions from November 1 to 30.
There have been many times conflicting statements between official Baku and Yerevan regarding the burying of mines and mine maps in the territories freed from occupation. Armenia presented Azerbaijan with mine maps from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War in April 2021, however, official bodies of Azerbaijan further said that the accuracy of the information on minefields previously provided by Armenia in Aghdam, Fuzuli and Zangilan regions is 25%.
Civil society representatives object to the draft law “On Political Parties”
A group of socio-political activists and human rights defenders operating in Azerbaijan made a statement regarding the draft law “On Political Parties” that was brought up for discussion by the Milli Majlis.
The signatories of the document consider the draft law to be a reactionary document containing provisions that restrict the right to participate in the public life in the country and the freedom of association. At the same time, they consider the adoption of the project as the next political act aimed at stifling the free political will of the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On November 29, the draft law “On political parties” passed the first reading at the meeting of the National Assembly . Among the deputies, only the representative of the ReAL Party, Erkin Gadirli, voted against the project.
