CoE is not satisfied by Azerbaijan's fulfillment of its commitments

PanARMENIAN.Net - In Strasbourg the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) accepted Monitoring Committee's report on Azerbaijan's fulfillment of its commitments in front of EU. Efforts of the Azeri delegation to soften the most critical points addressed to the Azeri authorities were not crowned with success, Turan reports. During discussions of the report member of Azeri delegation Samed Seidov distinguished, who said there is a lot of progress in Azerbaijan and even politicians and human rights activists who have arrived in Strasbourg, confess it and express their support. However Seidov's words were ironically ignored by Andres Herkel, who expressed his disagreement with, as he said, Azeri delegation head's "magnificent" speech. Number of political prisoners has decreased in Azerbaijan, but it does not mean solution of problem. Corruption prospers in the country, and there is anarchy in the judicial system. Courts are not independent. Freedom of assembly is not provided. The parliament does not have enough powers. Elections are falsified. Representatives of opposition are not included in parliamentarian delegation. Touching upon the problem of political prisoners, Tony Lloyd said it is the result of "absence of justice in courts". Leo Platvoet drew attention to the fact that the growth of economy that the Azeri authorities like to talk much about, has resulted in the growth of corruption, and not in improvement of welfare of population.



The report particularly mentions the importance of PACE control over the commitments that Azerbaijan promised to fulfill in connection with the coming presidential elections of 2008, which "must be the first elections in country's history meeting international standards." It is necessary to urgently solve the issue of electoral commissions, which must enjoy the trust of both electorate and all political forces.



"Corruption remains the main problem in Azerbaijan that touches all layers of society and threatens economic, social and political development of the country. Criminal prosecution for slander leads to intimidation and self-censorship in media," the report says.
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