ArmInfo.In the evening of 24 January in Strasbourg will be adopted a resolution suggesting
limiting the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Council of Europe, Turan reports.
The draft of this document was published on the PACE website. It
contains seven paragraphs, which state that by joining the Council of
Europe on 25 January 2001, Azerbaijan agreed to comply with the
obligations imposed on a PACE member.
"The Assembly regrets that more than 20 years after its accession to
the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan has failed to fulfil the main
obligations arising from it. Very serious concerns remain about its
ability to hold free and fair elections, the separation of powers,
the weakness of its legislature vis-…-vis the executive, the
independence of the judiciary and respect for human rights, as
evidenced by numerous judgements of the European Court of Human
Rights and the conclusions of the European Commission for Democracy
through Law (Venice Commission)."
The fourth paragraph of the resolution refers to the situation in
Nagorno-Karabakh. In particular, it refers to the violation of human
rights in Lachin corridor and that PACE "condemned the military
operation of the Azerbaijani army in September 2023, which led to the
flight of the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh".
The resolution mentions in a separate paragraph the problem of
political prisoners and the refusal of the authorities to allow the
Monitoring Committee rapporteurs to meet with political prisoners.
"PACE also regrets that it was not invited to observe the upcoming
presidential elections, despite Azerbaijan's commitment to extend
such an invitation."
The Assembly regards these refusals as a "lack of co-operation" and
condemns the authorities' refusal to allow the rapporteur on "Threats
to the life and safety of journalists and human rights defenders in
Azerbaijan", who has been denied entry to the country three times.
PACE also regrets that the rapporteur of the Committee on Migration,
Refugees and Displaced Persons was not invited to Azerbaijan during
his familiarisation visit to the region and was thus unable to travel
to the Lachin corridor. "Therefore, the Assembly decides not to
approve the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation
The credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation can be restored when
the above-mentioned reasons are eliminated," the document reads.
