Head of Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe to Raise Question of Release of Human Rights Defenders in Baku

The following week, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Didier Reynders will visit Azerbaijan and Armenia.

This was stated by Mr. Reynders, speaking yesterday in Strasbourg in connection with the entry of Belgium in the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Speaking about the purpose of his trip, Mr. Reynders said that the focus will be issues of human rights. He said human rights monitoring mechanisms in the Council of Europe should play their full part in Crimea and Donbass, but also in the other territories that have escaped effective control by the relevant national governments, including regions such as Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh. He said he will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan next week, and his main mission will be to promote co-operation between the Council of Europe and each of those two countries. He will also stress his concern about the numerous incidents along the whole line of contact, and he will remind all that there is no possible military solution to their conflict. Dialogue must prevail, through the OSCE’s Minsk Group, and the Council of Europe.

“As far as refugees are concerned, I have already said that that our first concern is to have access to them so that we can check exactly what is happening in the field. I call on all governments whose responsibility is either de jure or de facto to give us access to the territory concerned so that we can see for ourselves how things stand in terms of human rights for the refugees. Beyond that, several organisations, both European and non-European, can help, and the Council of Europe is the first among them, but next week I will bring up the specific situation of the refugees when I visit Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.

On the question of MP from Azerbaijan Mr. Rzayev about the fate of refugees and displaced persons, Mr. Reynders said that he would like to communicate directly with them to identify their problems, to see everything with his own eyes and to think about how the Council of Europe could help them.

Mr Le Borgn from France asked him: “Minister, you said you were preparing to travel to Azerbaijan next week. When you meet the Azerbaijani authorities, what is the special message that you will take with you on the position of defenders of human rights in that country? Since the end of the Azerbaijani presidency, they are all in prison, in exile or, unfortunately, in hospital.”

Answering him, Mr. Reynders said: “I will be in Azerbaijan in my capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers, which has spoken out on the subject on several occasions to express not only its concern but its desire to see certain people released or the conditions of detention of others improved. That approach will be central to the visit organised for next week.

My impression – and I am perhaps talking about a more long-term vision for future presidencies – is that we can perhaps act more forcefully when it comes to defending the interests of human rights defenders. I hope that the Belgian presidency can leave that message.”  --02D--