MP: "Our Presence or Absence in PACE Will Have No Impact on Human Rights"

Today, on January 27, the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) begins. Last week, on January 21, a group of international human rights organizations called on PACE not to restore the mandate of Azerbaijan's delegation or to do so under "clear" conditions. In their letter to PACE, they wrote: "The increasing repression of civil society, independent media, and political dissidents in Azerbaijan violates the values of the Council of Europe. Azerbaijan persistently refuses to cooperate with international mechanisms and fails to address systematic human rights violations."

Azerbaijan's voting rights in the organization have been suspended for a year, primarily due to the country's failure to fulfill its human rights commitments to PACE. In response, the Azerbaijani government announced that it was halting cooperation with the organization. Furthermore, Baku placed the deputies who voted for this decision on a blacklist, restricting their entry into Azerbaijan. Officials have stated several times that they are ready to resume cooperation once the delegation's mandate is restored.

Hikmat Babaoğlu, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament's Human Rights Committee, told Turan that the initiative to revoke the mandate of Azerbaijan's delegation to PACE has nothing to do with PACE's charter or human rights. "This is a matter of pressure on Azerbaijan, managed by certain Islamophobic centers in the West," he said.

The MP believes that traditional European organizations such as the OSCE, PACE, and various institutions of the European Union aim to impose European hegemony on nation-states. "True, they sometimes present themselves as specialized organizations. For instance, PACE portrays itself as an organization specializing in human rights, but in reality, we always see attempts to impose hegemonic will and dictate terms. Therefore, Europe's arrogance often overrides all other values," Babaoğlu argued.

In his view, this undermines the concept of rights: "If there is a lack of justice and organizations demand political compliance rather than rights from nation-states, such problems will arise. For instance, what displeases PACE? In 2023, we conducted an anti-terror operation. Allegedly, we restricted human rights, but in reality, we restored rights, enabling Azerbaijanis to return to their homes. Why does PACE refuse to acknowledge this?"

Regarding Azerbaijan's presence in PACE, Babaoğlu stated that if such an organization exists, Azerbaijan is always ready to cooperate with it. "If this organization, which claims to coordinate human rights issues in Europe, acts sincerely, Azerbaijan is always interested in collaboration. However, for Azerbaijan, human rights are not about PACE; protecting human rights is a constitutional matter for us. Our Constitution guarantees the protection of human and civil rights, whether or not we are part of PACE. Therefore, our presence in PACE has no impact on human rights," he emphasized.

Political analyst Nasimi Mammadli told Radio Azadlıq that problems related to human rights have always existed in Azerbaijan-PACE relations. "Despite these issues, the relationship has continued. However, after Azerbaijan resolved the Karabakh issue militarily, the state of human rights in the country gained more prominence on the international agenda. Baseless accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Armenian population in Karabakh also increased, providing the Azerbaijani government with an excuse to criticize international organizations," he said.

At the same time, Mammadli believes that the human rights situation in Azerbaijan has deteriorated significantly compared to previous years. "There are over 320 political prisoners in the country. Journalists, civil society activists, and representatives of public and political organizations are imprisoned on fabricated charges," he noted.

According to Mammadli, the exclusion of Azerbaijan's delegation from PACE's work did not improve the human rights situation in the country; on the contrary, it worsened. "One of the tools that civil society and the opposition used to pressure the government was taken away. A complex situation has emerged. On one hand, PACE excluded Azerbaijan's delegation due to human rights violations, and the situation in this area is dire. On the other hand, this sanction further exacerbated the human rights situation," he explained.

He emphasized that the Azerbaijani government has not taken any steps in the past year to ensure the delegation's participation in PACE. "It seems that the Azerbaijani government has accepted the current conditions and does not want to return to PACE. Meanwhile, the human rights situation continues to deteriorate. European organizations must take more effective measures to improve human rights in Azerbaijan," Mammadli concluded.