According to the report, the country continued to strengthen its counterterrorism efforts and had some success in both reducing the presence of terrorist facilitators and hampering their activities.
The report says that in March, Azerbaijani security services reported the arrest of 22 individuals accused of working with Iran`s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to carry out terrorist attacks against Western embassies and other groups with Western ties.
According to the report, in May, Azerbaijan`s security service reported it had arrested 40 terrorist suspects and thwarted planned terrorist attacks during the May Eurovision Song Contest held in Baku. Planned targets during the event included major hotels frequented by foreigners as well as the song contest venue.
"Azerbaijan is a member of Moneyval, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. In order to bring Azerbaijan`s legislative framework into conformity with international standards and requirements, including those of the EU and FATF, a significant number of legislative acts - four codes, 15 laws, and six presidential decrees covering more than 100 articles - have been amended but the Financial Monitoring Service (FMS), Azerbaijan`s Financial Intelligence Unit, since 2009. Azerbaijan continued to work with Moneyval to address the full range of anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) issues identified in its Mutual Evaluation Report. The U.S. government, primarily USAID and Treasury, has been one of the leading partners of the FMS since its formation in 2009, working with it along with the Prosecutors office and others to provide technical assistance and training to upgrade enforcement capabilities, which included four distinct training sessions on AML/CTF issues in FY 2012," the report says.
The Government of Azerbaijan has legislation in place that permits the freezing of assets without delay, and has presented a draft law to Parliament that proposes additional measures to streamline and simplify the confiscation and release of frozen assets. UN lists are updated and submitted to reporting institutions.
In 2012, Azerbaijan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, supporting various terrorism-related UNSCRs. In May, Azerbaijan held the presidency of the UNSC, which focused on strengthening international cooperation in the implementation of counterterrorism obligations. Azerbaijan also participated in the Istanbul Process and supported counterterrorism confidence building measures referred to in the June 14 Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference Declaration. Azerbaijan also took part in working group meetings of Caspian Sea littoral states to coordinate law enforcement efforts aimed at countering terrorism as well as smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and organized crime on the Caspian.
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