OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms OPINION NO.222 Implementati on of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms 1 OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku ahead of Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Photo: Eurofesti val 2 OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................5 Summary ...................................................................................................................................6 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................8 Introduction ............................................................................................................................11 Part One: Crackdown on rights envisaged in Opinion No. 222 ..............................................13 Chapter One: Silencing Whistleblowers .............................................................15 Chapter Two: Human Rights Ombudsman .........................................................18 Chapter Three: Legal repression of free expression ...........................................19 Chapter Four: State control over broadcast media ............................................22 Chapter Five: An NGO ‘Witch Hunt’ ...................................................................23 Part Two: Keeping PACE with rights abuses ...........................................................................25 Chapter One: “There can be no political prisoners in any member state of the Council of Europe” .....................................................28 Chapter Two: “We should give a chance to a new president” ...........................37 Chapter Three: “Too much tension in the state machinery”..............................42 Chapter Four: Hope against hope ......................................................................50 Chapter Five: Is the glass half empty or half full? ..............................................58 Chapter Six: 2008 Presidential election: “a new touchstone” ............................64 Chapter Seven: “2010 Elections: The opportunity to issue a driving license for the highway of democracy is not to be missed” ...............................70 Chapter Eight: “Go Ahead” for Repression ........................................................78 Part Three: Challenge for the Commissioner .........................................................................85 Part Four: The Venice Commission: A box-ticking exercise ...................................................91 Part Five: Azerbaijan in the mirror of the European Court of Human Rights ........................97 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................103 3 OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms Acronyms ANS – Azerbaijan News Service APA – Azeri-Press Agency AzTV – Azerbaijani Television BTC – Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan CIS – Commonwealth of Independent States ECHR – European Conventi on on Human Rights ECtHR – European Court of Human Rights EPP/CD – Group of the European People’s Party at the Council of Europe EU – European Union ICCPR – Internati onal Covenant on Civil and Politi cal Rights IRFS – Insti tute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety JSC – Joint Stock Company LRAD – Long Range Acousti c Device MP – Member of Parliament NATO – North Atlanti c Treaty Organizati on PACE – Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe POC – Prisoner of Conscience RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty NGO – Non-Governmental Organizati on NTRC – Nati onal Television and Radio Council ODIHR – Offi ce for Democrati c Insti tuti ons and Human Rights OGP – Open Governance Partnership OSCE – Organizati on for Security and Co-operati on in Europe PACE – Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe SOC – Socialist Group UN – United Nati ons YAP – Yeni Azerbaijan Party 4 OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms Acknowledgements This report is a publicati on of the Insti tute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS). The report was writt en by Gulnara Akhundova, program manager for Internati onal Media Support (IMS), based on research she conducted with IRFS researchers Ruslan Aliyev, Parviz Azizov and Gunay Ismayilova, as well as IRFS CEO and Chairman Emin Huseynov. It was edited by human rights consultant Rebecca Vincent. A condensed version of this report will also be published as part of a broader IRFS report examining Azerbaijan’s implementati on of its hu- man rights commitments with various internati onal organizati ons. This report has been published thanks to generous support from Internati onal Media Support (IMS). 5 OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms Summary The Assembly considers that Azerbaijan is moving towards a democrati c, pluralist society in which human rights and the rule of law are respected, and, in accordance with Arti cle 4 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, is able and willing to conti nue the democrati c reforms initi ated in order to bring its enti re legislati on and practi ce into conformity with the prin- ciples and standards of the Council of Europe. Opinion No. 222 (2000)1 More than 12 years aft er Azerbaijan’s accession to the Council of Europe, and on the eve of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Committ ee of Ministers, the Council of Europe remains an important organizati on for Azerbaijan. The Council of Europe gives Azerbaijan the opportunity to parti cipate fully, and on an equal footi ng with other member states, to cooperate with Europe in the fi eld of human rights, rule of law and democracy. Accession has above all enabled Azerbaijan to take part in debates and to have its voice heard. Through accession, Azerbaijan has been off ered the opportunity to share its experience with other countries and to parti cipate closely in defi ning norms with regard to human rights, rule of law and democracy, at the European level. When Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe on 25 January 2001, it agreed not only to honor the obligati ons incumbent on all member states under Arti cle 3 of the organizati on’s Statute,2 but also to a number of specifi c commitments, set out in Opinion No. 222 (2000) on Azerbaijan’s applicati on for membership of the Council of Europe. Despite hopes that accession to the Council of Europe in 2001 would have had a signifi cant infl uence on the development of fundamental rights within the country, Azerbaijani citi zens conti nue to suff er diverse forms of repression and violati ons that aff ect nearly the enti re spectrum of their human rights. The Azerbaijani authoriti es conti nue to act in blatant disregard to their commitments, which were the basis of Opinion No. 222 (2000) on Azerbaijan’s request for membership. 1 Opinion No. 222. (2000) Azerbaijan’s application for membership in the Council of Europe. http://assembly.coe. int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta00/EOPI222.htm 2 Statute of the Council of Europe, London, 5.V.1949 http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/001.htm 6 OPINION NO.222 Implementation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to the Council of Europe in the fi eld of fundamental freedoms On 28 June 2000, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Opinion No. 222 (2000) on Azerbaijan’s request for membership of the Council of Europe. On the basis of a list of commitments entered into by Azerbaijan, signed by the President of Azerbaijan and the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, and a number of expectati ons formulated by the Assembly, it was recommended that Azerbaijan be invited to become a member of the Council of Europe. PACE took its decision on the basis of specifi c commitments undertaken by the Azerbaijani government in a document signed by then-President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, and a list of clearly formulated expectati ons. IRFS notes with dismay that the Azerbaijani authoriti es have since acted in blatant disregard of their commitments. The repressive measures taken against the media and criti cal voices, and the adopti on of draconian pieces of legislati on that contradict internati onal standards have cast severe doubt on their good faith. The transfer of power from Heydar Aliyev to his son, Ilham Aliyev, who was elected president in October 2003, raised hopes that the Soviet-style regime would become more moderate. However, Ilham Aliyev disappointed these hopes, despite his rhetoric on the need to cooperate with the West, including the Council of Europe, the EU, and NATO, and enact reform to comply with European standards, and has in- stead conti nued many of his father’s practi ces, including his strategy of authoritarian rule. Internati onal assessments of the degree of democrati zati on, such as, inter alia, Freedom House rankings, and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Internati onal reports, in fact found that the Azerbaijani government