Baku Today
July 7 2005

Ago Group Presents Its Report on Armenia and Azerbaijan

07/07/2005 20:46

A delegation of the Ago Group of the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe visited Baku from 29 June to 2 July 2005 to assess
the progress made by Azerbaijan in the fulfillment of its commitments
to the Council of Europe.

The delegation met with the President of the Republic, members of
government as well as representatives of the opposition and civil
society. The 6th visit of the Group a couple of days before the
meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly in
Baku, underlines the importance which the Council of Europe attaches
to Azerbaijan’s democratic development at a decisive juncture in its
political history.

The forthcoming parliamentary elections were very much at the centre
of the discussions. The recent presidential decree was warmly
welcomed by the delegation. It, however, noted the concerns raised
regarding the composition of the election commissions, the accuracy
of the voters lists, the right for the opposition to campaign without
harassment in the whole country, as well as equal access to the media
for all parties and candidates.

The President expressed his determination to have completely free and
fair elections and underlined that he had given clear instructions to
all public authorities concerned to that effect. He stressed that
this is, indeed, a major opportunity for creating a normal political
environment in the country.

The Group noted that a number of important steps have been taken
which, if sustained, will without doubt improve democratic practice
in Azerbaijan. The initiation of dialogue between ruling and
opposition parties and the adoption of a code of conduct, the fact
that rallies can now be freely held by the opposition are noted in
this context. Further progress on the question of political prisoners
has also been made through the two recent presidential pardons and
the setting-up of a task force between the authorities and NGO’s to
solve all the remaining cases once and for all.

The delegation welcomed the announcement, after the first day of its
visit, of a court decision allowing two of the opposition
representatives arrested during the October 2003 events to run for
the parliamentary elections, as the delegation had urged. It
expressed the hope that the remaining five personalities will also be
allowed to participate.