The Article 19 organization has published a report on analysing the implementation of the Law on the Right to Obtain Information in Azerbaijan. The report concludes that the

Azerbaijani Government must implement a comprehensive action plan in order to effectively implement the law, or the right to freedom of information will remain inaccessible.

“According to the research, requests for information are rarely fully and adequately met. Instead, deadlines are disregarded, additional justifications are required and public authorities regularly fail to meet procedural requirements set out by the law. There are also inadequate mechanisms to facilitate information requests from the public – there are no dedicated public information offices in ministries and so there are no management systems to deal with and track requests,” says the report.

The report also finds that there is an entrenched culture of secrecy within government institutions in Azerbaijan. This is exacerbated by a lack of awareness of the right to freedom of information among the public and civil society.

“In Azerbaijan, we have a general problem with the implementation of legislation,” says Arif Aliyev, Chairperson of the Yeni Nesil NGO. “However, there is an additional

barrier [which is] the psychological mindset linked to an atmosphere of secrecy. Whether or not you are able to receive a response to your request [for information] depends entirely on the person at the top.”

The ARTICLE 19 organization calls on the Azeri authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the Law on the Right to Obtain Information in Azerbaijan. Among them are free access to information, an efficient information management system at all the government institutions and appointment of an Information Ombudsman.