Both resolutions were connected with long-awaited reports by PACE rapporteurs, and both contained recommendations from the body to the Azerbaijani authorities to improve the human rights situation in the country. PACE’s split approach to the two resolutions was the result of a carefully crafted lobbying strategy by the Azerbaijani delegation, which supported the somewhat-critical first resolution and the monitoring report on Azerbaijan — using it to make the second resolution on the more sensitive issue of political prisoners look both biased and unnecessary.

International and Azerbaijani rights groups viewed the defeat of the political prisoner resolution as deeply disappointing — particularly to those unjustly behind bars in the country who had high hopes pinned to its passage – and as a failure by the Council of Europe to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its obligations as a member state. The vote also has dangerous implications for the future of member states’ cooperation with PACE rapporteurs, as the body turned a blind eye to the Azerbaijani authorities’ refusal to issue a visa to Christoph Straesser, PACE’s special rapporteur for political prisoners in Azerbaijan — a fact that was then used to undermine the report’s credibility.

As Human Rights House Foundation Executive Director Maria Dahle emphasised in a press conference following the vote, the fact that the resolution did not pass does not mean that there are not political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Although it is true — as pointed out by opponents during the debate on the resolution — that many of the alleged political prisoners included in the original report have since been released, there have been new cases in their wake, as outlined in the report’s addendum, which many of the speakers who took the floor during the debate seemed to have not read. The real problem is the lack of political will of the authorities to improve the freedom of expression situation in the country, allowing for continued persecution of those who express critical opinions.

Indeed, there are a number of cases of journalists, human rights defenders, and activists currently in prison or detention in connection with exercising their right to freedom of expression, including Ilham Amiraslanov, Vugar Gonagov, Zaur Guliyev, Hilal Mammadov, Faramaz Novruzoglu and Avaz Zeynalli. Dayanat Babayev, Ogtay Gulaliyev, and Mehman Huseynov also face jail-time if convicted of politically motivated charges of hooliganism.

In failing to support the political prisoner resolution, PACE failed to take a stand on human rights and freedom of expression in Azerbaijan at a pivotal moment for the country’s relations with the Council of Europe. But all is not lost. As pointed out by UK MP Christopher Chope during the debate on the resolution, Straesser’s work has already resulted in the release of many persons he identified as potential cases of political prisoners and it also ensured that the monitoring report contained language on political prisoners.

PACE should use all available mechanisms to hold Azerbaijan — and indeed all member states — accountable for their Council of Europe obligations. The monitoring report contains important recommendations on human rights and freedom of expression issues, such as ending prosecution of those who express critical opinions and effectively investigating all cases of attacks against journalists and bringing the perpetrators to justice – including the murders of Elmar Huseynov and Rafiq Tagi. Failure to follow up on these and other key recommendations will serve to further damage the Council of Europe’s already weakening image as a body that promotes and protects human rights.

Rebecca Vincent is a freelance human rights consultant and an expert on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan

Index on Censorship and Crow Hill Films invite you to a screening of Amazing Azerbaijan! followed by a discussion on Azerbaijan and human rights on 30 January.

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Azerbaijani authorities repeatedly deny the presence of any political prisoners in the country, which commands huge business interests around the world, including among several MPs from the United Kingdom, several of whom voted against the resolution.

Disappointment among those who campaign for free expression in Azerbaijan was palpable, with several NGO representatives referring to the vote — 79 in favour and 125 against — as a disgrace.

Among those being held on spurious charges are journalists Avaz Zeynalli, Hilal Mammadov and Vugar Gonagov.

The resolution was based on a report by Rapporteur Christoph Strasser, who was repeatedly denied entry into Azerbaijan to carry out his mandate. Several delegates refused to recognise the resolution on grounds that Strasser prepared his report from outside the oil-rich country. 

However, free expression advocates welcomed the adoption of a resolution calling for continued monitoring of the country’s record on free speech and human rights, with 196 members voting in favour and only 13 against. The resolution was based on a report by the CoE’s rapporteurs to Azerbaijan, who expressed “growing concern with regard to rule of law and respect for human rights” in the country and encouraged the Azerbaijani government to strengthen its commitment to honour human rights obligations.

Index on Censorship and Crow Hill Films invite you to a screening of Amazing Azerbaijan! followed by a discussion on Azerbaijan and human rights on 30 January.

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Irina Khalip, Sannikov’s wife, visited him in jail yesterday. It was her first permitted visit since August last year. In an emotional meeting in the presence of KGB officers, Sannikov used a pre-arranged code to express his fear of never seeing his family again. He added that the physical and psychological torture was constant — not daily, but hourly. Khalip said that Sannikov was extremely frail, and even though the KGB stated there would be reprisals for reporting details of her visit, she went public at a press conference today, as she believes her husband will die in jail without international action. There are also fears that Sannikov’s family may be targeted.

At the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly this morning, delegates passed a strong draft opinion written by rapporteur Andres Herkel. All political groups backed the opinion that called for:

- the Belarusian authorities to release and rehabilitate all political prisoners, and;
- all member states of the Council of Europe to join the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Belarusian officials responsible for serious human rights violations.

Index on Censorship will be writing to Council of Europe member states to urge them to join the European Union sanctions, and remind Belarus of its international obligations, alongside member states such as Norway who have already done so.

Whilst there was almost unanimous support for this strong statement on Belarus, some former post-Soviet countries mindful of their own domestic human rights record attempted to water it down. An Armenian delegate described the debate as ‘hypocritical’ whilst their foe Azerbaijan remained within the Council of Europe. Later, Russian delegates stood up one by one to provoke the assembled parliamentarians with apologia for Lukashenko’s regime. Svetlana Goryacheva a Russian delegate from the Socialist Group spread Belarusian government propaganda about jailed human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, stating incorrectly he had received $300 million personally in donations from the West, adding that Western European countries and the United States were “war-mongerers”. Leonid Slutsky, another Russian delegate, said of the widespread concern for Bialiatski, “[They] are sending a signal that if you are a human rights defender you can evade taxes.” Slutsky failed to mention that Bialiatski was sentenced under Belarus’s penal code, which makes any form of donations to domestic NGOs a criminal offence.

The Russian’s but incensed delegates especially those from Baltic former Communist countries. Lithuanian EPP delegate Emanuelis Zingeris voiced his concerns over the behaviour of the Russians and Armenians and said the ‘anti-democratic statements’ of the Eurasian states were not appropriate for Strasbourg. Fellow Lithuanian delegate Egidijus Varekis said the word “President” should be removed from in front of Lukashenko’s name in the opinion and replaced with “dictator”. He added, to applause:

“We talk about how we can live with Lukashenko, but not how we can live without Lukashenko… If we cannot live without this dictatorship then this says a lot about our democracies.”

Andres Herkel’s report which formed the resolution included Index on Censorship’s successful campaign with Free Belarus Now against banks that sold Belarusian government bonds.

The resolution finally passed 111 votes with 10 against and 6 abstentions; and the recommendations of the committee were passed by 119 votes, 10 against and 3 abstentions. It is thought the majority of the 10 against were from the Russian delegation.

Michael Harris is Index on Censorship’s Head of Advocacy

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In a move signalling increased international pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime, the European Union’s Council of Foreign Ministers today strengthened its sanctions against Belarus. The tougher sanctions are  a direct response to the jailing of opposition activists and former presidential candidates and followed last week’s OSCE decision to invoke the “Moscow Mechanism”, a rarely used tool to monitor human rights that provides official support for a rapporteur to visit Belarus with or without a visa. Earlier this year, official OSCE rapporteur Professor Emmanuel Decaux was refused a visa to travel to Belarus.

The Czech Republic delivered today’s statement, on behalf of 14 OSCE members — Germany, USA, Canada, Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden:

It is our view that a particularly serious threat to the fulfilment of the provisions of the OSCE human dimension has arisen in Belarus. We therefore called for a fact-finding mission to examine concerns regarding the demonstrations that took place in Belarus on 19 December 2010, as well as developments since then, in order to produce an independent and impartial report…The recent sentencing of presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov and several other participants in the December demonstrations only confirms the urgent need for independent scrutiny of Belarusian compliance with OSCE human rights commitments.

At 2pm (GMT) today, the Council of Foreign Ministers added another 13 names to its Sanctions Lists of 176 individuals, which includes the president. Those on the list are barred from entering the European Union and will have their financial assets frozen. The new names added to the list include judges and prosecutors who have been involved in the recent trials of political prisoners. The Council discussed further economic sanctions —  supported by the European Parliament —  but held back after opposition from Italy and Latvia. Diplomats have concluded additional economic sanctions will take weeks to formulate. Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister said the extension of the Sanctions List list was in response to the trials: ”In Minsk, which is on the continent of Europe, we have ongoing political trials, ongoing political verdicts of a nature that is completely unacceptable. And that means that further measures will have to be taken.” He added: “We also have an ongoing financial crisis, verging on financial collapse, in Minsk. So it is a dramatic situation there as well.”

The pressure on the regime from financial markets also intensified today with the Belarus Central Bank devaluing the ruble from Tuesday. The official exchange rate will fall from 3,155 rubles to the dollar to 4,930 rubles per dollar. This is still significantly higher than the free-floating interbank market rate of around 6,400-6,800 roubles per dollar, suggesting further devaluations cannot be ruled out. According to Royal Bank of Scotland’s director for emerging market research, Timothy Ash, Belarus is running a current account deficit of 16 per cent of GDP. To put this into context, Greece’s deficit peaked at 14.4 per cent of GDP in 2008. The balance of payments crisis had been attributed to inflationary measures the state took in the run up to last year’s presidential election, when Lukashenko ordered a 40 per cent increase in public sector pay. Now mainstream economists are raising fears of hyperinflation and further devaluations.

Moscow sees the country’s economic troubles as an opportunity. Belarus’s Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich has confirmed that the country plans to sell its stake in the nation’s gas pipeline network to Russia for $2.5 bn after a bailout loan from Moscow. With the Kremlin urging further state asset sales, it seems Lukashenko is willing to mortgage his short-term political survival for his country’s economic future.

Mike Harris is Public Affairs Manager at Index on Censorship

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