PACE charges Azerbaijan with lack of democracy

Yesterday, on June 26, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PАСЕ) discussed the issue of the mandate of the Azeri parliamentary delegation. In their report, Herkel and Gross, the rapporteurs, noted once more that the official Baku ignored their obligations before the Council of Europe and that the country's authorities were reluctant to hold democratic elections and secure the rights and freedoms of their citizens.

In particular, Gross said that the authorities of Azerbaijan continuously try to justify the existing problems in the area of democracy by the presence of refugees and the war consequences. They also think that they can ignore law and the international public opinion, once they possess oil. In the opinion of Gross, this is why the authorities rigged both the 2005 parliamentary elections and held similar re-elections in May 2006.

In the course of the debate, a number of MPs from Eastern Europe and Turkey came out in support of Azerbaijan and moved in favor of recognition of the Azeri delegation mandates.

As regards the Azeri delegation members, their presentations boiled down to the fact that Azerbaijan was a new state which was striving to develop democracy in line with the Council of Europe standards, and it needs assistance. At the same time, the delegation members criticized Gross and Herkel for a biased attitude towards Azerbaijan.

Following the discussion results, the PACE adopted a draft resolution prepared by co-rapporteurs Andres Herkel and Andreas Gross, the central idea of which is that Azerbaijan faces serious problems with democracy and fundamental freedoms. This concerns elections, freedom of speech, freedom of meetings, and other spheres.

In spring 2007 the PACE is going to return to the issue of fulfilling by Azerbaijan of its obligations. Before that, the PACE will continue its monitoring of the situation in all spheres of the country's life. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent is grateful to the Baku office of the Council of Europe for obtaining information on the PACE summer session.