2024-01-25 12:39:32
On January 24, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) did not approve the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation. The reason for Azerbaijan’s non-fulfillment of the main obligations undertaken when it joined the Council of Europe 23 years ago was given. Baku violated the organization’s principles, the situation of human rights in the country, and the increase in the number of political prisoners were cited as reasons. Before this decision was made, the delegation of Azerbaijan at PACE announced that it has suspended cooperation with the organization for an indefinite period.
Former head of the Delegation of Azerbaijan to the European Union (EU). Arif Mammadov believes that the red button has already been pressed regarding Azerbaijan: “The Western system was trying to bypass some issues. Taking into account the importance of Azerbaijan as a country that ensures the energy security of Europe, he went over some issues. But the red button has already been pressed. Recently, the Azerbaijani authorities do not fulfill their obligations and arrest people without reason. We see that all these organizations are increasing pressure in a coordinated way. Here, I am sure that all decisions made by the European Parliament, PACE, OSCE, French Senate and Germany have been reconciled.”
E. Nasirov
“Should we beg PACE to send us a representative?”
One of the reasons given for Azerbaijan’s violation of the requirements of the Council of Europe (CoE) is the refusal of official Baku to invite the PACE delegation to evaluate the February 7 presidential elections. The reason for this is the YAP deputy Elman Nasirov explains: “The European Parliament does not send us a representative (to observe the election). In such a situation, should we beg PACE to send us a representative?! They also perform the same activity in a coordinated manner. The results are already known to us. During the presidential elections in 2018, we were aware that both OSCE and PACE came with a ready report. They did not reveal a single positive nuance, positive event, but they were biased. PACE and the European Parliament are fully responsible for the current situation.”
According to E. Nasirov, the fact that Azerbaijan single-handedly saved its lands from occupation worries the West, and therefore they take a biased position against Azerbaijan.
However, the problem of violation of democratic principles and human rights has been brought up from time to time in Azerbaijan, and even before the 44-day war in 2020, the government of Azerbaijan was asked to comply with its obligations to international organizations and the international documents it had signed. For example, in 2015, in the PACE discussions on the functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan, it was emphasized that human rights and the values of the Council of Europe were violated in Azerbaijan.
The Council of Europe is one of the most established institutions of Europe created after the Second World War, the main purpose of which is the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Its main institutions are the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly. After Russia’s withdrawal, the Council of Europe covers 46 countries and a geography of 670 million people. The member states of the Council of Europe join the European Conventions and accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
Azerbaijan was accepted as a full member of the Council of Europe in 2001, after abolishing the death penalty and press censorship. The current president Ilham Aliyev was the first head of the PACE delegation.
Changing official rhetoric
At that time, this event was evaluated as a great success by the powerful opposition in terms of the national interests of Azerbaijan. Until recent years, when media organizations controlled by the authorities talked about the Council of Europe, they mentioned it as an internationally influential organization. However, after the sharp cooling of relations between Azerbaijan and the West in the last few years, the approach to the Council of Europe has also changed.
For example, seven years ago, AZERTAC wrote that “Azerbaijan’s admission as a member of the Council of Europe played an important role in the formation of our country’s position in the system of international relations…”.
“Institutions that were silent when our lands were under occupation are now using new mechanisms to influence our country…. These organizations were silent and blind when we needed them. This is from an article published by AZERTAC in 2024.
The rhetoric of “silenced, blinded, biased institutions” belongs to all the parties that condemn the West in Azerbaijan. For example, E. Nasirov When commenting on the latest decision in PACE, he explains his position with the same words: “Those who turned a blind eye to the occupation of our lands for 30 years have opened their mouths today. The blind began to see today. The deaf have started to hear today. These are bitter realities. Our people and society know this very well.”
The experience of Russia’s CoE
Among the former Soviet republics, countries with serious problems with the Council of Europe are Belarus and Russia. After Russia started a war in Ukraine in 2022, the Council of Europe, like other Western institutions, took tough steps against Russia. The Russian delegation was previously banned due to the violation of human rights in Chechnya and the annexation of Crimea. In 2017, the Russian delegation stopped its activities in PACE due to the extension of sanctions, and the Kremlin also froze the annual membership fee of 33 million euros paid to the organization. In 2019, the powers of the Russian delegation were restored and Russia paid the remaining 54.6 million euros due to the membership fee. And finally, when the Ukrainian war broke out in 2022, the Council of Europe froze all Russian rights in the Committee and the Parliamentary Assembly. After that, Russia left both the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisdiction of the European Court.
The behavior of the Council of Europe regarding Russia actually raises certain questions. For example, were human rights and democracy ensured in Chechnya, so PACE withdrew from its earlier decision? The same question applies to the annexation of Crimea. Or why did the PACE, which froze its rights due to the act of aggression of Russia attacking Ukraine, accept Armenia’s aggression policy in its documents, why did it not take restrictive measures against it?
In fact, just as the Council of Europe’s steps towards Russia were not received unequivocally before the Ukraine war, the recent discussions in PACE also raised questions in Azerbaijan. Because even before 2023, mass arrests of social and political activists were carried out in Azerbaijan. In 2013-2014, several non-governmental organizations were closed, Radio Liberty’s Baku office was closed, and a large number of international organizations were forced to leave the country. In the following years, a law aimed at restricting the activity of free media was issued and a reactionary law on political parties was adopted. The Venice Commission did not give a positive opinion to these laws. The so-called “Tartar incidents” caused a serious uproar with the facts of torture.
E. Ibrahimov
Geopolitical reason
Former diplomat Emin Ibrahimov states that Azerbaijan is currently the country farthest from democratization among the CE members: “Looking west from the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan can only be compared with Russia and Belarus. These two countries are not members of the Council of Europe. The policy of the Azerbaijani authorities has practically put Azerbaijan in a row with Belarus and Russia.
Some socio-political activists and experts believe that PACE’s decision is not related to human rights and elections, nor to Karabakh. This decision is geopolitical. In other words, the reason why Europeans turned a blind eye to what was happening in Azerbaijan was actually related to the relations maintained by the president of Azerbaijan with Europe. However, since President Ilham Aliyev has opted for an authoritarian coalition in a rapidly polarizing world, the Europeans are responding accordingly. E. Ibrahimov explains it like this: “The reason is primarily geopolitical. Thus, in the geopolitical competition that is heating up in the region, Aliyev is next to Putin. Both are united against the strengthening of the West and democracy in the region. The increasing pressure of the West on the Azerbaijani authorities is also related to this. In short, the main reason why the West is attacking Aliyev is his open pro-Russian policy. The reason for this policy is related to the fact that he considers Russia to be the most reliable pillar of his power. Authoritarianism is forced to take refuge in Russia to protect itself. As a result, they make the country even darker and block the horizons of progress.”
Will sanctions come?
One of the most frequently asked questions is: Are sanctions against Azerbaijan expected? Former diplomat A. Mammadovin his opinion, individual sanctions can be initiated against Azerbaijani officials involved in human rights violations and torture.
E. Ibrahimov does not exclude the application of sanctions: “The adoption of sanctions against Azerbaijan is becoming a real prospect. As a matter of fact, the West should have imposed sanctions on Aliyev’s rule, which is the main stronghold of authoritarianism in the South Caucasus, a long time ago. Current developments may make such sanctions more urgent. Sanctions should only target the regime exclusively and should not negatively affect ordinary people.
Looking at Russia’s experience, can it be said that the same fate awaits Azerbaijan now – the prospect of expulsion from the Council of Europe? Do all these events mean that Azerbaijan is moving away from the European family, and the country will be treated as one of the Asian countries, not a part of Europe? Being in the Council of Europe gave the authorities a comfortable opportunity to imitate democracy. The “Londramat” (“Azerbaijani washing machine”) scandal showed that the Azerbaijani authorities were spending billions of euros for this.
In reality, membership in this organization benefited the society of Azerbaijan more, especially the citizens who could not find justice in the country and turned to the European Court.
PACE only deprived the delegation of Azerbaijan of the right to vote until the January 2025 session. That is, Azerbaijan has not been excluded from PACE and concrete steps are expected from it in the direction of fulfilling its obligations. PACE deputies emphasized that they keep the door open for dialogue and pluralism…
Freedom radio
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