Committee of Ministers Secrétariat Du Comité Des Ministres

SECRETARIAT / SECRÉTARIAT

SECRETARIAT OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS SECRÉTARIAT DU COMITÉ DES MINISTRES

Contact: John Darcy Tel: 03 88 41 31 56

Date: 25/04/2019 DH-DD(2019)462

Documents distributed at the request of a Representative shall be under the sole responsibility of the said Representative, without prejudice to the legal or political position of the Committee of Ministers.

Meeting: 1348th meeting (June 2019) (DH)

Communication from the authorities (27/03/2019) in the MIRZAYEV group of cases v. Azerbaijan (Application No. 50187/06)

Information made available under Rule 8.2a of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements.

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Les documents distribués à la demande d’un/e Représentant/e le sont sous la seule responsabilité dudit/de ladite Représentant/e, sans préjuger de la position juridique ou politique du Comité des Ministres.

Réunion : 1348e réunion (juin 2019) (DH)

Communication des autorités (27/03/2019) relative au groupe d’affaires MIRZAYEV c. Azerbaïdjan (requête n° 50187/06) (anglais uniquement).

Informations mises à disposition en vertu de la Règle 8.2a des Règles du Comité des Ministres pour la surveillance de l’exécution des arrêts et des termes des règlements amiables.

DH-DD(2019)462: Rule 8.2a Communication from Azerbaijan. Documents distributed at the request of a Representative shall be under the sole responsibility of the said DGI Representative, without prejudice to the legal or political position of the Committee of Ministers. 29 MARS 2019

SERVICE DE L’EXECUTION DES ARRETS DE LA CEDH Information concerning the state of execution in the Mirzayev group of cases

This group of cases concerns failure by the domestic authorities to enforce the national courts’ judgment with respect to unlawful occupation of the private premises by internally displaced persons removed from their homes on the territories occupied by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia due to Armenian military aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Currently, there are about than 1,000,000 IDPs settled in Azerbaijan. The Government has assumed all challenges and problems faced by the displaced population after the aggression of Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijan’s territory.

During the past period, a comprehensive legislative framework has been established in accordance with the international norms on resolution of social problems faced by refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers; 55 Decrees and Orders were adopted by the President of the State; 248 Decisions and Orders adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers; and 23 laws adopted by the Parliament.

The following initiatives have been taken aimed at improving social problems faced by the refugees and the internally displaced persons: The “State Program on resolution of problems faced by the refugees and internally displaced persons” through the Presidential Decree N 895, dated 17 September 1998; The “State Program on improving living conditions and employment situation of refugees and internally displaced persons” through the Presidential Decree N 298, dated 1 July 2004; and Amendments to the “State Program on improving living conditions and employment situation of refugees and internally displaced persons” through the Presidential Decree number 2475, made on 31 October, 2007. During the past years, these State Programs have been successfully implemented and the planned activities in this field continued.

In 2007 the Government of Azerbaijan succeeded to eliminate the last IDP camp in the country (12 camps in total) at the expense of resources of the State Oil Fund. Furthermore, as a result of the taken social measures poverty level among IDPs decreased from 74 percent to 18 percent during last years.

According to the “Regulation on State Committee on Affairs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons” approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan no. 187, on 1 February 2005, the primary objective of the Committee is, inter alia, (2.3) to organize repair and construction works of housing and social facilities for refugees and internally displaced persons and to provide construction facilities with relevant project-

2 DH-DD(2019)462: Rule 8.2a Communication from Azerbaijan. Documents distributed at the request of a Representative shall be under the sole responsibility of the said Representative, without prejudice to the legal or political position of the Committee of Ministers.

estimate documentation and (2.4) to participate in the regulation of relocation of refugees and internally displaced persons.

On 21 February 2011 the Government adopted additional measures to improve the housing conditions of the internally displaced families, as approved by the relevant Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (copy of the Order of the President is enclosed). It clearly indicated that the Government should “build, in the towns of Baku and Sumgayit and in the Absheron region, multi-storey residential buildings for 1210 IDP families (5445 IDPs) temporary resided in apartments and houses belonging to other persons in Baku and Sumgayit”.

In order to implement the mentioned Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan the detailed Action Plan was adopted by the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 8 June 2011. Corresponding measures, their purposes and stages of their realisation, as well as terms of implementation and corresponding authorities were determined in the mentioned Order of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Arrangement of necessary measures in the framework of implementation of the above-mentioned Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan as well as in execution of the Court’s judgments in these cases is under way.

The following information would be of significant importance to set the vision of the measures adopted by the Government in the field of resettlement of refugees and internally displaced persons.

In 2014 the Government constructed 6 new settlements for 632 IDP families in Ağdam district, 320 IDP families in Beyləqan district, 600 IDP families in Gəncə city, 230 IDP families in Saatlı district, 200 IDP families in Qaradağ district and one mixed-used residential cluster for 594 families in Mingəçevir city. At the same time, construction of residential buildings has been completed for 45 families in Balakən district, 240 families in Qaradağ district and 160 families in Abşeron district.

Apart from residential buildings, the following infrastructure was constructed in 2014: schools for 2,288 students, 6 day-care centres, 6 healthcare facilities, 5 community centres, 51 km of roadway, 96 km of water pipeline, 136 km of power line, 86 km of gas pipeline, 14 reservoirs of different capacity, 9 pump stations, 16 transformer substations and 59 high-voltage transformers.

Accordingly, in 2014 the living and housing conditions 22,000 internally displaced persons were improved.

DH-DD(2019)462: Rule 8.2a Communication from Azerbaijan. Documents distributed at the request of a Representative shall be under the sole responsibility of the said Representative, without prejudice to the legal or political position of the Committee of Ministers.

In 2015 the Government ensured resettlement of 2,788 internally displaced families (594 families in Mingəçevir city, 101 families in Hacıqabul district, 230 families in Saatlı district, 121 families in Xıirdalan city, 588 families in Bərdə district, 440 families in Sabirabad district, 304 families in Qazax district, 135 families in Zaqatala district, 160 families in Baku and 21 families in Şirvan city, and 94t houses for Akhiska Turks) to the new residential areas, settlements and quarters; and thus, improved the living conditions of 15,000 internally displaced persons.

Along with the residential areas, social infrastructure has been developed: 5 schools for 1,380 students, 3 day-care centres, 3 healthcare facilities, 3 community centres, 20 km of roadways, 45 km of water line, 50.6 km of power line, 7 km of heating line, 25 water reservoirs, 11 pumping stations, 8 complete transformer substations and 22 high-voltage transformers.

In 2016 a new settlement was opened for 400 IDP families in Fuzuli district, and construction of 55 private houses for Meskhetian Turks was completed. In total, in 2016 7,000 IDPs were resettled in the new houses.

The Government also ensured repair and restoration of 260 houses of IDPs damaged as a result of shelling of settlements in Ağdam and Tərtər districts by the Armenian armed forces in April 2016.

Generally, during the years of 2001-2014, 89 modern settlements with social and technical infrastructure, covering the total area of 2,8 million square meter were built in more than 30 cities and regions of the Republic at the expense of funds allocated by the State Oil Fund and other resources. 84 or 94 percent out of them with dwelling area of 2.5 million square meter were constructed in the last 11 years.

In general, in 2001-2016 the Government constructed 95 new settlements in more than 30 cities and districts for refugees and IDPs at the expense of the funds allocated from State Oil Fund and other sources. These settlements encompassed 150 schools, 6 music schools, 1 art school, 51 cultural centers, 59 day-care centres, 58 healthcare facilities, 718 km of roadway, 960 km of water pipeline, 1,605 km of power line, 442 km of gas pipeline, 66 km of communications lines, 26 km of heating pipelines, 163 km drainage network, and 830 electric transformers.

By the end of 2016, housing and living standards of 250,000 refugees and IDPs have been improved.

Implementation of the above activities has been continued in the subsequent years, providing 7,000 IDPs with new houses yearly. In 2018, the Government ensured resettlement of 5,600 IDPs to the new residential areas.

It is envisaged that, in 2019, new residential buildings will be constructed for approximately 7,000 IDPs.

According to the information received from the State Committee on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, resettlement of the IDPs residing in the apartments belonging to other individuals, in particular those concerned in the judgments and decisions of the Court, is envisaged in March-April 2020.

The Government will keep the Committee informed about further measures implemented in order to execute the Court’s judgments in the present case.