The Council of Europe called on the Azerbaijani authorities to rehabilitate the group of activists

On March 12-14,  a meeting the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, as part of the supervision of the execution of the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights, adopted a number of decisions, including those concerning Azerbaijan.

According to the press service of the Council of Europe, one of them concerns the case of the Mammadli Group against Azerbaijan. The talk is about the failure to fully implement the decisions of the ECHR on complaints from representatives of civil society: Intigam Aliyeva, Khadija Ismail, Anara Mammadli, Giyas Ibrahimova, Bayram Mammadov (deceased), Arif and Leyla Yunus.

The ECHR decision recalls that the applicants were persecuted for criticizing the authorities and article 18 of the European Convention – the political motivation of the persecution - was violated in their regard.

The Committee of Ministers confirmed the requirement to remove the applicants' criminal record and eliminate all consequences of criminal charges and fully restore their civil rights. The Committee reiterated its call on the authorities to take all measures to ensure that the convictions of the applicants are overturned without delay.

The Chairman of the Committee of Ministers was instructed to send a letter to the Azerbaijani authorities and urge them to find quick solutions for the full and effective implementation of the ECHR decisions in these cases.

The Committee of Ministers will return to the discussion of this issue in June 2024.  The Committee of Ministers adopted a similar decision in the case of the Gafgaz Mammadov Group against Azerbaijan, which concerns the decisions of the ECHR on complaints of a group of activists against administrative arrests.

The Committee of Ministers reiterated its call on the authorities to take measures to ensure the legality of administrative arrests, detentions and the fairness of administrative proceedings. Another decision concerns the case "Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan", which is connected with the murder of an Armenian officer in Hungary by a military serviceman from Azerbaijan.  The government is called upon to implement the decisions of the European Court.