Council of Europe Again Calls on Azerbaijan to Implement ECHR Rulings
From December 3 to 5, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe met in Strasbourg to discuss the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by Council of Europe member states. As a result of the discussions, 42 decisions were made concerning 19 countries, according to the press service of the Council of Europe. Several of these decisions were related to Azerbaijan.
Specifically, the cases included the "Anar Mammadli Group," which encompasses 5 ECHR rulings concerning complaints from Anar Mammadli, Intigam Aliyev, Ibrahimov and Mammadov, Khadija Ismayilova (2 cases), and Arif and Leyla Yunus.
The ECtHR ruled that the applicants' imprisonment was unlawful (violation of Article 18 of the Convention) due to their political and public activities and criticism of the government.
The Committee of Ministers once again noted that the Azerbaijani authorities have not fully implemented these decisions, including failing to annul the sentences of the individuals involved and remove their criminal records. The Committee of Ministers will return to this issue at the next meeting.
The Committee also made decisions regarding the case of the "Neymat Aliyev Group," which involves violations of rights in the context of the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections. Another outstanding decision is the case "Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan," concerning a refugee from the Goranboy region who was forced to leave his property in the village of Gülistan in 1992.
The Committee of Ministers also pointed to non-implementation by Armenia of the ECHR ruling in the case "Chiragov Group v. Armenia," which involved complaints from six former internally displaced persons from the Lachin region.
Another decision concerned the case "Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan," related to the murder and attempted murder of Armenian officers during a NATO event in Budapest in 2004. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has instructed governments to take measures to implement the ECHR decisions and to report back on their progress.
Politics
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On February 12, the National Assembly of Armenia approved in the first reading the bill "On the Initiation of the Republic of Armenia's Accession to the European Union." According to Armenian media reports, 63 deputies voted in favor, and 7 voted against. The bill was presented by the civil initiative Evrovote, which collected 60,000 signatures from citizens. On January 9, the bill was approved by the government and sent to the parliament.
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On February 11, the third round of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates took place in Abu Dhabi. The Azerbaijani side was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Yalchin Rafiyev, while the Arab side was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Ms. Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.
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On 12 February, President Ilham Aliyev received Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who arrived the previous day in Baku on an official visit. This is stated in the message on the website of the President of Azerbaijan.
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On 11 February, the Chinese TV channel CGTN (China Global Television Network) published an interview of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, which he gave in Davos on 20 January.
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