Azerbaijan Must Fulfill Its Commitments to Council of Europe - Stefan Shennach

Baku / 07/10/19 / Turan: The themes of meetings and negotiations in Baku of the monitoring mission of the Council of Europe were traditional: human rights, democracy issues, and the rule of law. Not only the agenda has not changed, but also the meeting places: the presidential administration, the Prosecutor General"s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Supreme Court. The speaker of the PACE Monitoring Committee on Azerbaijan Stephan Shennach said this in an interview with Turan and Radio Voice of America.

He noted that he had met not only with officials, but also with human rights activists, journalists, and representatives of civil society.

The topic of the meetings was also the problem of political prisoners, some of whom were released due to the latest act of pardon on the eve of Novruz, Shennach said.

Welcoming this decision, the speaker stressed that this act did not fully resolve the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

He expressed regret that he was not given the opportunity to visit a number of political prisoners, including Said Dadashbeyli, Afgan Mukhtarly, and Seymour Hazi.

"This was the first time when my appeal about visiting prisons remained unanswered," Shennach noted with regret.

When asked how he assesses the state of freedoms in Azerbaijan, the speaker said that there is still much to be done. He called on the country's authorities to resume cooperation and dialogue with the Council of Europe, making it clear that many meetings in Baku were of a formal nature.

In his opinion, Azerbaijan has a long way to go along the path of improving its legal system. To this end, it is necessary to adopt the recommendations of the Venice Commission on the improvement of the electoral legislation in the field of NGOs and law enforcement agencies.

"Often in your country such recommendations are regarded as criticism. However, each member of the Council of Europe, when he enters the organization, assumes both responsibilities and is obliged to observe them.

How can you ignore the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights for years?" Shennach stressed, citing the Ilgar Mammadov case as an example.

In conclusion, the speaker noted that he plans to prepare a large report on Azerbaijan for the June PACE session in 2020. -0-