Two dozen international human rights organizations addressed Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset, calling on him not to ratify the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE due to intensified and unprecedented repression following the Feb. 7 presidential and Sept. 1, 2024 parliamentary elections.
“At the time of writing this article, there are almost no independent civil society actors left in the country. The heads of independent media were arrested, while the authorities intensified pressure on lawyers and scientists,” the organizations stated.
The organizations ask the secretary general of the Council of Europe to call for the release of Anar Mammadli and other human rights defenders and civil society activists, environmentalists and journalists whose arrests have political motives. Moreover, in Azerbaijan, it is necessary to completely review the Azerbaijani legislation, which is aimed at persecuting human rights defenders and civil society representatives, criminalizing their activities, and make it clear that otherwise, the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE will not be reviewed.
The authors of the appeal consider it unacceptable that Azerbaijan has “blacklisted” PACE deputies who are critical of Baku and call for the fulfillment of the European Convention on Human Rights and the obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan after joining the Council of Europe.
