Contradictory reaction to appointment of Hannah Bardell

Baku/13.10.22/Turan: The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) discussed the topic of threats to journalists and human rights activists in Azerbaijan. The committee appointed MP Hannah Bardell from the UK as rapporteur to investigate this issue with a view to producing a report.

MP Hannah Bardell should study this issue over the next two years and prepare a detailed report for PACE.

Member of the Milli Majlis Human Rights Committee Elman Nasirov told Turan that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has repeatedly demonstrated a biased position towards Azerbaijan. "When the Council of Europe had been set up in 1949, its main mission was to stand guard over the rights not only of nations and peoples, but even of a citizen on the European continent. Unfortunately, we did not observe any steps related with the protection of the rights of our refugees and internally displaced persons who were expelled from their lands for 30 years as a result of the Armenian occupation policy.”

According to the deputy, as a result of the support of the pro-Armenian political circles, the PACE parliamentarians again took a biased position towards Azerbaijan. “The Committee of the Council of Europe on Legal Issues and Human Rights holds that the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan is suppressed, that journalists in Azerbaijan are deprived of the opportunity to freely express their opinion, and in view of this, the appointment of a Special Rapporteur is nothing more than political pressure on Azerbaijan".

He noted that more than 80 percent of the population of Azerbaijan are users of social networks. "It also means that more than 80 percent of the population can get any information and write down their opinion. In our social networks, they not only write their opinion, but also humiliate honor and dignity, damage business reputation, and those who do this go unpunished. Let them talk about it in the Council of Europe.”

According to a committee member, the appointment of a Special Rapporteur is a political manipulation to put pressure on Azerbaijan. “We don't accept it. We believe that this is an order of Armenian politicians. We have seen such steps many times, and we have immunity, we are a strong state. They cannot divert us from the democratic path we are following by putting such pressure on us.”

Human rights activist Anar Mammadli told Radio Azadlig that the appointment of this rapporteur was delayed. “Because the issue was raised in 2021 and moved to the Committee in 2022. For a long time this position remained vacant. The appointment took place because a report should be prepared next year, time is short, and this complicates the task a little.”

According to him, the report should be very comprehensive, objective and reflective of reality. “For this to happen, the speaker needs to work a lot with the government of Azerbaijan and come to the country. However, the government is very neglectful of such appointments and in some cases tries to create obstacles.”

The expert believes that the reports have an effect. "Of course, I would not say that this changes the situation very seriously. Nonetheless, there are effects. The government does not accept the presence of political prisoners, denies pressure on journalists, obstruction of the activities of civil society. When such reports appear, they are presented on international platforms and cause discussion. Influence of these documents depends on the political will of the government to approach this issue.”

Mammadli noted that Azerbaijan is under PACE monitoring. "Azerbaijan is one of the 10 countries that have problems with fulfilling their obligations on the rights and freedoms of society. In countries under monitoring, it is quite natural to create such positions to study these problems."

According to the human rights activist, the problem is quite deep. “In Azerbaijan, for many years, media representatives have been subjected to pressure, their activities are limited. The advertising market for the media is actually limited in the country, the new law on registration faces bureaucratic barriers. The situation is the same with human rights activists, there are organizations that do not register, and those who do register still have limited opportunities for comfortable activities.”—0—