OSCE final report on Azerbaijan election "will speak for itself" - ODIHR Director

The OSCE final observation report with regard to the upcoming parliamentary election in Azerbaijan will be published once the election process is complete and "it will speak for itself," ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir told TURAN's U.S. correspondent.

The International Election Observation Mission last night released its Interim Report on pre-election environment in Azerbaijan.

Speaking to TURAN in Washington, the director expressed reluctance to comment on the "political issues" in Azerbaijan, such as the current state of civil society and the media environment, explaining that the final ODIHR report will look at the issues closely, and that it "will reflect on what we observe in the coming weeks."

In her first appearance before the U.S. Congress yesterday morning, Director Sólrún Gísladóttir discussed the organization's flagship work in international election observation; helping governments to combat human trafficking and to protect Human Rights defenders.

In many places across the OSCE region, she said in her testimony before the Helsinki Commission, "a healthy civil society is often seen not as a security partner but as a security risk."

"Need to return to understanding that democracy is not about friends and foes, winners and losers... It's about respect and trust, acceptance of different opinions, willingness to share power and seek compromise," she said.

According to her, without political and social pluralism, the independence of the judiciary, press freedom, and a thriving civil society, "there can be no democracy."

"Only equality between young and old, women and men, ethnic minorities and the majority, all faith communities and non-believers can bring long-term democratic stability to our societies," she explained adding that we "must fight against the dismantling of the democratic system and the erosion of democratic standards, wherever we see them."

"We seem to be gripped by an ever deepening polarization in which some political leaders and their voters believe that anyone who disagrees with them is an enemy."

For Director Sólrún Gísladóttir, racism and xenophobia are "flourishing on the street, online, unfortunately, also in police precincts" during the OSCE region.

"Human rights are valid online just as they are offline, and they must be protected in both spheres," she added. "The online world has made information more easily available, allowing citizens to participate actively in democratic processes. But misuse of online channels can incite discrimination and violence, while disinformation spreads unchecked."

The OSCE, she said, "is a community of values but also a community of responsibility – participating States should hold each other to account."

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.