Sudaba Gasanova Appointed Minister of Justice

Baku, January 12, 1988-- (Turan News Agency) President Geidar Aliyev signed a decree January 10 appointing Sudaba Gasanova, acting justice minister, as Minister of Justice. Gasanova has been acting minister since 1994.

Baku, January 14, 1988--(MPI News Agency) "The appointment of Sudaba Gasanova as Minister of Justice is in keeping with the line of the current government and ruling regime," said Mutallim Ragimov, press secretary of the Democratic Party. In Ragimov's view, since assuming the position of acting minister, Gasanova has shown herself to be a fierce opponent of democracy. Instead of being brought to court to face charges herself, said Ragimov, Gasanov is appointed Minister of Justice, which will deliver a blow to the image of the Azerbaijan Republic. Such actions by the justice minister as refusing to enforce the decisions of courts, and ignoring the resolutions of the Milli Medzhlis (the parliament) find support in the highest eschelons of the government, notes Ragimov. The Democratic Party spokesman believes that it is absurd to suppose that the leadership of the republic is not informed about Gasanova's violations of the law.

Committee on Women's Problems Founded

By a January 14 decree of the President, the State Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic on Women's Problems has been founded.

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic has been assigned to prepare proposals and present them to the President of the country within a month, and also to resolve all other organizational matters.

By another decree of the President on the same date, Zakhra Tair juzu Guliyev was appointed head of the State Committee on Women's Problems.

Discrimination Against Women in Azerbaijan: Report of the Delegation in New York

Baku, January 19, 1998 (MPI News Agency)---In January, the delegation of Azerbaijan will make its first report on compliance with the requirements of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and will report to the CEDAW committee in the United Nations. Fatma Abdullazade, a department head in the President's Office, and Sudaba Gasanova, Minister of Justice, have been sent to New York to represent Azerbaijan.

In response to requests from CEDAW and a number of American and international organizations, the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan (PTSA) prepared a so-called "shadow report" on the situation regarding compliance with CEDAW in Azerbaijan, sent to New York with Zaliha Tahirova, head of the Women's Rights Monitoring Group of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan, and Elmira Alekperova, member of the Society for the Defense of Human Rights.

The Human Rights Center reported that in addition to presenting materials testifying about the real situation regarding discrimination against women in the Azerbaijan Republic, they will take part in a training program on report preparation for the UN conducted by the organization International Women's Rights Action Watch and funded by the women's fund of the United Nations (UNIFEM). Meetings are planned with the representatives of prominent women's and human rights organizations. Azerbaijan joined CEDAW on July 10, 1995.

Translated by International League for Human Rights For more information call (212)-684-1221 or write ilhr@perfekt.net