Council of Europe MPs call for attention to human rights in Azerbaijan

In the first substantive discussion on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan at the Council of Europe since the defeat in January of a key resolution at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a group of Azerbaijani and international human rights groups hosted a side event titled “Pre-election crackdown: human rights in Azerbaijan”.

At the event, the Azerbaijan-based Human Rights Club released a list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, revealing that there are 142 cases of politically motivated detention and imprisonment in the country. A reportlaunched by IMS’ Azerbaijani partner, the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety put the situation of political prisoners in context by detailing Azerbaijan’s failure to implement its broader Council of Europe obligations since joining the body in 2001.

Polish MP Robert Biedroń, Estonian MP Mailis Reps, and UK MP Paul Flynn, called for increased attention by the parliamentary assembly to ensure Azerbaijan’s accountability for fulfilling its human rights obligations. Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks stressed his concern regarding ongoing violations of the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly, and association, as well as cases of detention and imprisonment connected with the exercise of these rights.

Human Rights Club Chairman Rasul Jafarov pointed to ongoing violations of fundamental freedoms, in contradiction to Azerbaijan’s Council of Europe obligations, noting that “no one forced Azerbaijan to become a member of the Council of Europe.” IRFS Chairman Emin Huseynov underscored that freedom of expression was particularly under attack, eliminating the chances of a fair and free election on 9 October.

The Azerbaijani delegation and PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Azerbaijan Joseph Debono Grech and Pedro Agramunt did not attend the event.

The Human Rights Club, IRFS, International Media Support, Platform London, and the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights note that Azerbaijan’s failure to implement its Council of Europe obligation is particularly serious in light of Azerbaijan’s upcoming chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. These organisations call on PACE to redouble its efforts to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its Council of Europe obligations, starting with the immediate and unconditional release of all persons detained or imprisoned for politically motivated reasons.

The event took place just a week ahead of the country’s 9 October presidential election, and seven months ahead of Azerbaijan assuming the Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in May 2014. The event was organised by the Baku-based Human Rights Club and Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), International Media Support, Platform London, and the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.