The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe criticizes Baku for non-compliance with the decisions of the ECHR

The meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg concluded the discussion on the implementation of 25 decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concerning Azerbaijan. In particular, this is the "Case of the Anar Mammadli Group", which includes 5 decisions against Anar Mammadli, Intigam Aliyev, Ibrahimov and Mammadov, Khadija Ismayilova (2), Arif and Leyla Yunus.

These decisions involve the imprisonment of the applicants in violation of Article 18 of the Convention for their active political and public participation, criticism of the Government, human rights and election observation activities.

Within the framework of the Khadija Ismailova Group, the implementation of two decisions of the ECHR on the complaints of Khadija Ismailova and Abbasalieva v. Azerbaijan, related to the violation of the rights to privacy and freedom of expression are being monitored.

The Azerbaijani government should create an effective mechanism to protect journalists and investigate crimes committed against them.

The “Namazov Group” case concerned violations against former lawyers under Articles 6, 8 and 10 of the Convention, which led to the deprivation of their legal status.

Although the decision regarding Aslan Ismailov was implemented, the other former lawyers, Khalid Bagirov and Elchin Namazov, were not reinstated.

In the ruling on the case of the Anar Mammadli Group, the Committee of Ministers expressed regret that the convictions remain in force, despite numerous and urgent appeals from the Committee of Ministers calling on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

The ruling in the case of the "Khadija Ismayilova Group" requests an explanation of the reasons why Ismailova cannot continue her work as a journalist. The document once again expresses concern about the Media Law and the refusal of the authorities to bring it into full compliance with the standards of the Council of Europe.

The ruling in the “Namazov Group” case welcomes the cancellation of the decisions against Aslan Ismayilov and the restoration of his membership in the Bar Association. There is also a call to restore the rights of lawyers Bagirov and E.Namazov as soon as possible.

The committee stated that if there is no progress on this issue before the next meeting, an interim resolution will be adopted.