COUNCIL CONSEIL OF EUROPE DE L'EUROPE Committee of Ministers Ministers’ Deputies CM Documents CM(2000)148(Restricted) 12 October 2000 726Meeting, 18 October 2000 2 Political questions 2.3 Applications for membership by Armenia and Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly Opinions No. 221 and 222 Exchange of letters between the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Internet : www.coe.fr/cmline (password access) Intranet : home/cmline Letter from the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan 6 October 2000 Dear Minister, I am writing to you in the context of Azerbaijan’s application to become a member of the Council of Europe, which has been discussed with you on several occasions, in particular, during the visit by Mr Umberto Ranieri, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Italy representing the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers to Baku on 14 June 2000. Several days later, on 28 June 2000, it was my pleasure to note the vote by the Parliamentary Assembly in favour of Azerbaijan’s accession, as well as eloquent address by the Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. Mr Aleskerov confirmed in particular Azerbaijan’s unflagging will and desire for pluralist democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The Committee of Ministers expects that the Government of Azerbaijan will formally and actively undertake to meet all the commitments reflected in paragraph 14 of Opinion No. 222 (2000) of the Parliamentary Assembly. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe, are prepared to co-operate with Azerbaijan for the fulfilment of its obligations. The Committee of Ministers places particular emphasis on the importance of the preparation and proper conduct of the general elections scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan on 5 November 2000 so that - with the full participation of the main opposition parties - they can be considered as free and fair. In addition, the Committee of Ministers expects that the Government of Azerbaijan will continue its efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means, notably through regular meetings of Heads of States and in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Process. The Council of Europe is ready to support Azerbaijan in this effort, in particular, by putting at the disposal of the Azerbaijani authorities its experience for solutions in similar cases. .../... Mr Vilayat GULIYEV Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Baku With the ongoing co-operation programmes in mind, the Committee of Ministers invites the Azerbaijani Government for further discussions with the Council of Europe on ways to strengthen and accelerate these programmes. The Committee of Ministers feels that priority areas for additional common efforts are the functioning of democratic institutions including local self-government, the judiciary, situation in the penitentiary system and the liberation of political detainees, the media and other human rights issues in general, and further development of civil society. In this context, the Committee of Ministers welcomes the recent decision to liberate 64 political detainees. The Committee of Ministers plans to resume consideration of the invitation to Azerbaijan to become a member of the Council of Europe at one of its forthcoming meetings. Consequently, I would welcome your confirmation that the Government of Azerbaijan commits itself to respond positively to the expectations by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. I look forward to the pleasure of meeting you again in the near future. Yours sincerely, (signed) Lamberto DINI Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy Letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan to the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers AZ8RBAYCAN RESPUBLiKASI XARiCi IÇL8R NAZ'lRLiYi REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS « » Y& 2 0 0 0 il Dear Minister, I acquainted myself with your letter with great attention and pleasure. I hope that taking into account significant achievements made on the way towards democratic pluralism, rule of law and protection of human rights, the Committee of Ministers will adopt at its forthcoming meeting a positive decision on the issue of granting to the Republic of Azerbaijan the full member status in the Council of Europe. With regard to the issues raised in your letter I would like to once again confirm with full responsibility that the Republic of Azerbaijan is faithful to the commitments undertaken before the Council of Europe. In thç meantime, I would like to stress that the Republic of Azerbaijan has already started implementation of the commitments, included in the Opinion 222 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. As you are aware, Azerbaijan has already joined 14 conventions of the Council of Europe and was the first state in the region to have abolished the death penalty back on February 10, 1998. Abolition of the press censorship on August 16, 1998 constituted next important step on the way of democratic reforms. During the most recent years necessary measures have been undertaken in order to solve problems in the sphere of freedom of expression. The human rights, as well as the rights of national and other minorities are well respected in Azerbaijan. His Excellency Mr.Lamberto DINI Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic Baki çah., 370009, Ç. Quifcanov küç., 4 Baku, 370009, Sh. Guibanov str. 4 T * 1 • M A Q<A fQCMl Qfitt dflft TV*! . /ntuin\ OC£ r -------/OOii-iX Ann inn During the last few years Azerbaijan has implemented numerous measures in the field of the reform of the judiciary. The main purpose of these measures was to bring the judiciary and the legal system in accordance with international standards and requirements set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols. In the course of the last two years the Civil Code, Civil-Procedural Code, Criminal Code, Criminal-Procedural Code as well as numerous other legislative acts, defining and regulating the status and activities of the law enforcement agencies have been adopted. In order to implement the principle of independence of the judiciary the relevant laws have been adopted and the implementation of them have been started. New three-level court system (Courts of First Instance, Appeal and Cassation Instances) has already been established in the legal system of Azerbaijan. In its turn, this reform serves for strengthening of confidence of citizens to the court system. In August of 2000 the process of election and appointment of judges in the Republic of Azerbaijan, based on the transparent procedures and conducted in the atmosphere of openness and in accordance with international standards, has been completed. Legal Training Center by the Ministry of Justice has been established in order to set up a professional judicial corps. The persistent fight against corruption, running counter to the country’s democratic development, has been underway. Thus, on June 8, 2000 the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a Decree “On the reinforcement of the fight against corruption in the Republic of Azerbaijan”. This decree assigned the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan to elaborate a draft law “On the fight against corruption” as well as the relevant State Program. With the purpose of implementing the tasks elaborated in the Decree two working groups have been set up, consisting of experienced acting members of the law enforcement agencies and academics in the field of law. The working groups have already started their work on the elaboration of the above mentioned draft law and of the state program. Code “On the Implementation of Penalties” was adopted in 2000 in order to bring the activity of the penitentiary system -in accordance with international standards. During the elaboration of this law standards set up by the United Nations and the Council of Europe were taken into consideration. In accordance with this Code detention conditions of prisoners have been considerably improved, their rights have been expanded, the groundwork for serious reforms in the penitentiary system has been laid down and the pre-trial detention institutions have been passed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. Pursuant to the recommendations of the Council of Europe, an Agreement wâs signed between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the International Committee of the Red Cross on June 1, 2000 "On the provision of the fulfillment of the authorities by the ICRC in the places of deprivation of freedom". Relevant measures on the release of persons, considered to be "political detainees” by some human rights organizations, are also underway. I would like to place a special emphasis to the fact that the most recent Decree by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of October 5, 2000 on the pardon of 64 persons that was appreciated in your letter, was not the first step of this kind. For instance, 87 persons were pardoned by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on June 25, 2000. I would like to bring to your attention the fact that in the course of this year the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued four pardon decrees on release of 243 persons from detention. Newly adopted laws and other normative acts elaborated in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and international standards, constitute the legal groundwork for the elections to the Milli Mejlis (National Assembly) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, due on November 5, 2000, Due note was taken of the recommendations by the experts from the OSCE Office on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe Commission on Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) while drafting the new election law.