The first meeting of the Milli Majlis Human Rights Committee in the current year’s autumn session, held on 21 September, began with a minute of silence in memory of the shahids. Then, the committee chairman Zahid Oruj wished that the souls of those fallen for the independence and integrity of the country would rest in peace and that the wounded ones would recover speedily.

Mr Oruj commented on the recent provocation of Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan, stressed the importance of discouraging actively all those attempting to blackwash Azerbaijan and emphasised in this regard the efforts of the Azerbaijani MPs with Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova at their head.

Mr Oruj tabled the account of the work that the committee had done during the spring and extraordinary sessions of 2022; he mentioned the 9 committee meetings called to discuss 14 issues. The committee chairman also commented on those matters, highlit the importance of the laws passed then and touched on the conferences, forums, meetings and other rallies organised in the discussed period together with various state departments as well as civic and international entities.

All the 800 applications that the committee had received had been analysed and their subject-matters investigated thoroughly before they had been forwarded to appropriate authorities for solution of the referenced problems. Besides, the seniors of the committee had received 207 citizens in the two sessions.

Item II was a draft work plan of the committee for the 2022 autumn session. With its regards Zahid Oruj said that there would be discussions revolving round the Bills and other documents arriving at the committee, composition of relevant opinion statements and proposals and, in addition to that, there would be various meetings with local and overseas organisations concerning themselves with human rights and with state departments to discuss highlights in this area. Apart from that, the committee is going to conduct thematic discussions and hearings.

The plan also envisages a discussion of the legal aspects of the Armenian provocations against Azerbaijan, drawing up a legislative act concerning compatriots living abroad and the diaspora organisations in connexion with the Grand Return to our de-occupied lands and, last but not least, optimisation of the legislation matching the thematic profile of this particular parliamentary committee.

It was the committee member Bahrouz Maharramov who covered the last two items on the agenda. He said that Item III was a draft law to affirm the 4^th Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Extradition, which, adopted back in 1957, had needed some of its stipulations to be updated and expanded. Azerbaijan is not going to apply the Protocol’s paragraphs to Armenia until such time as the consequences of the conflict have been removed completely and the relations with this state have been normalised.

Item IV alias Item Last was a first-reading addendum to Article 7.2 of the Human Trade Countering Law. It follows from the addendum that the efforts of the participants of the National Action Plan will be co-ordinated via the Working Group acting pro bono publico under the auspices of the National Co-ordinator. The make-up, organisation and modus operandi of the Working Group are going to be determined by the relevant executive authority.

Deliberations followed. Zahid Oruj, his deputy Tahir Karimli and the committee members Elman Nasirov, Fazil Mustafa, Jala Ahmadova, Elshad Mirbashiroglu, Razi Nurullayev, Naghif Hamzayev and Bahrouz Maharramov commented on the agenda items and put forth their relevant proposals.

The 2022 two-session performance report was approved; the 2022 autumn session work plan was adopted. As regards the Bills tabled during the meeting of the committee, its members recommended they should be brought before a plenum of the Milli Majlis.

The Press and Public Relations Department  

The Milli Majlis