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AZERBAIJAN'S HUMAN RIGHTS ARE ON A KNIFE EDGE. THE UK MUST NOT WALK AWAY
Young democracies such as Azerbaijan need help with freedom of
expression. Tory threats to leave the ECHR risk it all
Thorbjørn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe
theguardian.com, Monday 3 November 2014 16.05 GMT
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. 'Azerbaijan has been repeatedly
warned over its poor human rights record.' Photograph: Kenzo
Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
Azerbaijan's six-month chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe comes to an end in November, when it hands over
to Belgium. Like the Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan's capital
Baku in 2012, the chairmanship has been an opportunity for NGOs and
activists to highlight the country's numerous human rights violations.
Much less is reported about how the Council of Europe itself confronts
these violations.
Earlier this month, the European court of human rights, which is
part of the Council of Europe, confirmed an earlier decision ruling
that Azerbaijan's arrest and detention of Ilgar Mammadov, a well-known
opposition politician and commentator, violated the European convention
on human rights.
The judgment was as critical as it was clear: the court concluded that
"the actual purpose of his detention had been to silence or punish
Mammadov for criticising the government and publishing information
it was trying to hide".
A request from the authorities to have the case transferred to the
grand chamber of the court was rejected. The 47 member states of
the Council of Europe are bound by the convention to implement the
court's decisions, and I have urged the authorities in Azerbaijan
to release Mammadov without delay. This pivotal judgment underscores
the deep-rooted systemic problems in Azerbaijan's judiciary.
We are closely following several other trials against human rights
defenders in Azerbaijan. I have called on Council of Europe member
states with larger embassies in Baku to observe the current court
proceedings. The UK has already responded positively.
Several Azerbaijani and international NGOs, whose representatives
I meet with regularly, complain that current legislation stifles
their activities. I have tasked the Council of Europe's group of
international constitutional experts - the Venice Commission - with
scrutinising Azerbaijan's NGO-related laws, and their compatibility
with the convention. Legal opinions of the commission are recognised
globally, and member states cannot afford to ignore their advice.
We have repeatedly warned Azerbaijan over its poor human rights
record. Earlier this year, the Council of Europe's human rights
commissioner, Nils Muižnieks, issued a report on the freedom of
assembly and expression in the country, in which he expresses his
serious concern about the harassment and arrest of journalists.
Muižnieks recently visited prominent activists including Anar Mammadli
and Leyla Yunus in prison, and called on Azerbaijan to stop reprisals
against human rights defenders.
But there are glimmers of hope. Three weeks ago, Azerbaijan's President
Ilham Aliyev pardoned some 80 prisoners, among them four human rights
defenders. The move was welcomed by the US and the EU.
Following an agreement I reached with Aliyev last August, a
Joint Working Group on Human Rights Issues - composed of human
rights defenders, parliamentarians, officials of the presidential
administration and a Council of Europe expert - recently met for the
first time since 2008 in Baku. We intend this group to facilitate
fresh talks between civil society and the Azerbaijani authorities,
which I hope will lead to further releases of activists.
In addition, the Council of Europe and Azerbaijan have been able to
agree on an action plan incorporating projects to promote freedom of
expression and independence of the judiciary.
Azerbaijan was accepted into the council in 2001. Our member states,
including the 28 EU states, also accepted its six-month chairmanship of
the organisations' committee of ministers. Senior European officials
like Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier - also in
Baku last week - have reminded Azerbaijan to use this opportunity to
show it is willing to begin to turn the tide.
Abandoning our efforts would mean abandoning the country's struggling
civil society. Excluding Azerbaijan would mean depriving 9.4 million
citizens of their last resort to access the rule of law in Europe and
the right of individual appeal to the European court of human rights.
The case of Azerbaijan is also important in another regard. When
politicians in established democracies such as the UK threaten to
leave the ECHR for essentially domestic reasons, this is likely to
have negative repercussions on the respect of fundamental freedoms in
Europe's younger democracies. Conservative party proposals to render
the binding decisions of the Strasbourg court merely advisory, if
enacted, will be welcomed by regimes less committed to human rights
than the UK.
Europe is already witnessing a serious erosion of minority rights,
freedom of expression and judicial independence, as highlighted in
the council's 2014 consolidated report on the state of human rights,
democracy and the rule of law. Urgent action is needed to stop this
dangerous development, starting with a clear commitment of member
governments to implement the European convention on human rights.
In the interest of peace and stability, Europe's leaders should
promote the rule of law at the European level, not denounce it.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/03/azerbaijan-human-rights-uk-tory-echr
Young democracies such as Azerbaijan need help with freedom of
expression. Tory threats to leave the ECHR risk it all
Thorbjørn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe
theguardian.com, Monday 3 November 2014 16.05 GMT
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. 'Azerbaijan has been repeatedly
warned over its poor human rights record.' Photograph: Kenzo
Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
Azerbaijan's six-month chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe comes to an end in November, when it hands over
to Belgium. Like the Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan's capital
Baku in 2012, the chairmanship has been an opportunity for NGOs and
activists to highlight the country's numerous human rights violations.
Much less is reported about how the Council of Europe itself confronts
these violations.
Earlier this month, the European court of human rights, which is
part of the Council of Europe, confirmed an earlier decision ruling
that Azerbaijan's arrest and detention of Ilgar Mammadov, a well-known
opposition politician and commentator, violated the European convention
on human rights.
The judgment was as critical as it was clear: the court concluded that
"the actual purpose of his detention had been to silence or punish
Mammadov for criticising the government and publishing information
it was trying to hide".
A request from the authorities to have the case transferred to the
grand chamber of the court was rejected. The 47 member states of
the Council of Europe are bound by the convention to implement the
court's decisions, and I have urged the authorities in Azerbaijan
to release Mammadov without delay. This pivotal judgment underscores
the deep-rooted systemic problems in Azerbaijan's judiciary.
We are closely following several other trials against human rights
defenders in Azerbaijan. I have called on Council of Europe member
states with larger embassies in Baku to observe the current court
proceedings. The UK has already responded positively.
Several Azerbaijani and international NGOs, whose representatives
I meet with regularly, complain that current legislation stifles
their activities. I have tasked the Council of Europe's group of
international constitutional experts - the Venice Commission - with
scrutinising Azerbaijan's NGO-related laws, and their compatibility
with the convention. Legal opinions of the commission are recognised
globally, and member states cannot afford to ignore their advice.
We have repeatedly warned Azerbaijan over its poor human rights
record. Earlier this year, the Council of Europe's human rights
commissioner, Nils Muižnieks, issued a report on the freedom of
assembly and expression in the country, in which he expresses his
serious concern about the harassment and arrest of journalists.
Muižnieks recently visited prominent activists including Anar Mammadli
and Leyla Yunus in prison, and called on Azerbaijan to stop reprisals
against human rights defenders.
But there are glimmers of hope. Three weeks ago, Azerbaijan's President
Ilham Aliyev pardoned some 80 prisoners, among them four human rights
defenders. The move was welcomed by the US and the EU.
Following an agreement I reached with Aliyev last August, a
Joint Working Group on Human Rights Issues - composed of human
rights defenders, parliamentarians, officials of the presidential
administration and a Council of Europe expert - recently met for the
first time since 2008 in Baku. We intend this group to facilitate
fresh talks between civil society and the Azerbaijani authorities,
which I hope will lead to further releases of activists.
In addition, the Council of Europe and Azerbaijan have been able to
agree on an action plan incorporating projects to promote freedom of
expression and independence of the judiciary.
Azerbaijan was accepted into the council in 2001. Our member states,
including the 28 EU states, also accepted its six-month chairmanship of
the organisations' committee of ministers. Senior European officials
like Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier - also in
Baku last week - have reminded Azerbaijan to use this opportunity to
show it is willing to begin to turn the tide.
Abandoning our efforts would mean abandoning the country's struggling
civil society. Excluding Azerbaijan would mean depriving 9.4 million
citizens of their last resort to access the rule of law in Europe and
the right of individual appeal to the European court of human rights.
The case of Azerbaijan is also important in another regard. When
politicians in established democracies such as the UK threaten to
leave the ECHR for essentially domestic reasons, this is likely to
have negative repercussions on the respect of fundamental freedoms in
Europe's younger democracies. Conservative party proposals to render
the binding decisions of the Strasbourg court merely advisory, if
enacted, will be welcomed by regimes less committed to human rights
than the UK.
Europe is already witnessing a serious erosion of minority rights,
freedom of expression and judicial independence, as highlighted in
the council's 2014 consolidated report on the state of human rights,
democracy and the rule of law. Urgent action is needed to stop this
dangerous development, starting with a clear commitment of member
governments to implement the European convention on human rights.
In the interest of peace and stability, Europe's leaders should
promote the rule of law at the European level, not denounce it.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/03/azerbaijan-human-rights-uk-tory-echr