In June, an intersex person filed a complaint following the refusal by the civil registry office in Steyr to register their gender as neutral (neither male nor female). The case was pending before the Administrative Court of Upper Austria at the end of the year. In August, several authorities, including the Federal Chancellor, expressed support for the right of same-sex couples to marry. However, no legislative amendments were tabled to this effect. COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY In July, the Police State Protection Act entered into force. The new legislation grants far-reaching surveillance and investigative powers to the domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism. In particular, the Office can collect and store personal data from a wide variety of sources and launch investigations without informing the affected individuals. The lack of judicial oversight and the discretion with which the Office can exercise its powers raised concerns regarding the respect of the rights to privacy and to an effective remedy, among others. AZERBAIJAN Republic of Azerbaijan Head of state: Ilham Aliyev Head of government: Artur Rasizade Some prisoners of conscience were released, but at least 14 remained in prison. Most human rights organizations forced to suspend their activities in previous years were unable to resume their work. Reprisals against independent journalists and activists persisted. International human rights monitors were denied access to Azerbaijan. Torture and other ill-treatment was widely reported, as well as arbitrary arrests of government critics. 74 BACKGROUND Azerbaijan’s oil-dependent economy was deeply affected by falling oil prices and the decline of its currency, the manat, by half of its value. Food prices rose without an equivalent rise in wages. From early January, spontaneous, and in most cases peaceful, protests against the devaluation of the manat and consequent price hikes spread across the country. The protests were clamped down on by police and security forces. On 18 January, President Aliyev signed a decree increasing the minimum pension and salaries of state employees by 10%. The measure remained insufficient to address the decline in living standards. In April, hostilities escalated between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region. The fighting lasted four days and resulted in civilian and military casualties on both sides and small territorial gains by Azerbaijani forces. In September, a referendum approved proposed amendments to the Constitution, giving further powers to the President. The amendments extended the presidential term and granted the President the authority to declare early Presidential elections and to dissolve Parliament. In November, the EU Council approved a new mandate for the negotiation of a “comprehensive” agreement with Azerbaijan to replace the 1996 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) which governed EU-Azerbaijan bilateral relations. The political dialogue under the PCA had been halted in recent years as Azerbaijan’s human rights record continued to deteriorate. PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE Government critics continued to be incarcerated. In the early part of the year, several high-profile prisoners convicted following politically motivated trials were released, among them at least 12 prisoners of conscience. None of those released were cleared of criminal charges. Following its visit to Azerbaijan in May, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted that “human Amnesty International Report 2016/17