ArmInfo. Human Rights Watch and a number of other human rights organizations have addressed a joint letter containing an urgent call to confirm the suspension of Azerbaijan's PACE credentials at Winter session 2025.
Dear Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
We, the undersigned organizations, once again urge the Parliamentary Assembly to confirm the suspension of Azerbaijan's credentials at the January 2025 session and develop clear and measurable benchmarks for their restoration. Azerbaijan's escalating repression of civil society, independent media, and political dissent continues to violate the principles and values of the Council of Europe (CoE).
Azerbaijan shows a persistent lack of cooperation with international mechanisms and fails to address systemic human rights abuses. As PACE recognized in autumn 2024, the human rights situation is deteriorating and repression has intensified. In retaliation for their criticism of Azerbaijan's human rights record, the authorities banned a group of PACE members from entering the country. In July, the CoE's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) took the "exceptional decision" to make a public statement concerning Azerbaijan, citing the government's "outright refusal" to cooperate with the Committee and severe and systematic issues related to the treatment of people in police custody. Azerbaijan has one of the worst records among CoE member states on implementation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments: The Mammadli group of cases and Ramazanova group of cases, representing a pattern of government assault on civic space and human rights defenders, remain essentially unimplemented to this day.
Since November 2023 and ahead of and after COP29 in November 2024, the Azerbaijani authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent, targeting civil society, journalists, and activists with politically motivated arrests on fabricated charges. Many of those arrested complain about ill-treatment in custody.
For details follow links:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/21/joint-letter-urgent-call-confirm-suspension-azerbaijans-pace- credentials- winter?fbclid=IwY2xjawIAG1JleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbMbCgweqhzPuOWD91AwUeMiuK2Wqon5rlu 2TvVT6evUBz5kfJdAfGwAsA_aem_a1UOWVu0Ji-CrsyAhEALdw
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2025/01/Jan%2021%20Joint%20Azerbaijan%20Letter_PAC E.pdf