The Institute of Peace and Democracy summed up the outcomes of the monitoring on Azerbaijan's meeting the commitments to the Council of Europe. According to Institute Director Leyla Yunus, the monitoring was held with the financial assistance of the Finnish Embassy in Azerbaijan. "Joining the Council of Europe Azerbaijan undertook 21 commitments. During 5-year membership in the organization the republic fulfilled only for of them. The rest were either fulfilled partly or neglected completely," she noted. In part, the authorities ratified only 7 out of 10 international conventions. As for the human right sector, only one obligation regarding the access of International Red Crescent representatives to the jails was fulfilled, six were fulfilled partly, 4 were ignored. "It should be noted that the authorities completely met the commitments regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. They abandoned the military settlement of the conflict and continue peaceful talks," Ms. Yunus emphasized.

Things look bad with political prisoners. According human rights activist Eldar Zeynalov, not all have been released. Though Iskender Gamidov, Rahim Gaziyev and Aliakram Gumbatov mentioned in the CoE's report were freed. "However the authorities are responsible for the appearance of new political prisoners," he says. Azerbaijan failed to meet another important demand - the formation of Public Television. Experts also fixed the nonfeasance in freedom of speech and press, reports Zerkalo.