Joint Open Letter to members of PACE Election Observation Mission: Legislative elections in AZERBAIJAN
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Attn. Members of the PACE ElectionObservation Mission
Paris-Geneva-Oslo, October 27, 2015
Re:legislative elections in Azerbaijan
Dearmember of the PACE Election Observation Mission,
OnNovember 1, 2015, roughly five million citizens of Azerbaijan will be called tovote in the legislative elections in Azerbaijan. FIDH, OMCT andthe Norwegian Helsinki Committee have taken due note of the fact thatPACE will deploy an Election Observation Mission on that occasion, and wish toextend our deepest concern regarding the conditions in which the polls arebeing organised, which, we believe, will not meet the provisions of theDeclaration of Principles for International Election Observation, endorsed byPACE and a number of other international organisations[1].
· Threatsagainst opposition candidates
Overthe past weeks, local observers have reported cases of intimidation of localpopulation trying to prevent signature collection for opposition candidates,and restrictions were also imposed on opposition parties collecting signatures.It was also highlighted that the situation in the country with respect topolitical freedoms, freedom of expression and media, and freedom of assemblydoes not provide conditions for holding free and democratic elections, and thatthe violations which occurred in the first stage of the elections – in theprocess of nomination and registration of candidates – cast doubt on legitimacyof the process. For example, the Central Election Commission registered thecandidacy of only 25 out of 60 potential contenders from the major oppositionparty Musavat, after declaring invalid signatures from 40 of the contenders,even signatures from the contenders’ own relatives. The Deputy Chairman ofMusavat, Tofiq Yagublu, is serving a five year prison sentence on clearlypolitically motivated charges. The leader of the opposition movement REAL, Ilgar Mammadov, has been convictedto seven years in prison. On May 22, 2014, theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held Azerbaijan responsible for violatingthe European Convention of Human Rights in arresting and sentencingMr. Mammadov. The decision of theECtHR has remained unimplemented by the authorities. Another majoropposition party, the Popular Front Party, has decided to boycott the election.
· Freedomof expression
Azerbaijan faces significant challenges with respectto the exercise of fundamental freedoms. Those who express critical views ofthe government are being systematically harassed and prosecuted. Pluralisticviews and impartial information is limited, journalists are being judiciallyharassed, detained and threatened. The case of investigative journalist KhadijaIsmayilova, sentenced to 7 years in prison on bogus charges, clearlyillustrates the atmosphere of intimidation and threats that independentjournalists face. Several other journalists are serving prisonsentences. Independent media outlets have been forced to close down or leavethe country. In the context of the election campaign, such challenges result inuneven media access where Azerbaijani opposition candidates are significantlydisadvantaged in electoral campaigning.
· Imprisonment ofindependent human rights defenders
Over the past years, opposition candidates, civilsociety activists, and human rights defenders have remained subject tocontinuous harassment and arbitrary detentions in Azerbaijan.
The Director of the Election Monitoring and DemocracyStudies Centre (EMDS), Mr. Anar Mammadli, was arrested and condemned to5.5 years' imprisonment, for his election monitoring and other human rightsactivities[2].The main representatives of independent civil society organisations such as LeylaYunus, Arif Yunusov, Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov arecurrently serving harsh prison sentences. Many other political prisoners aredetained, and their number is hard to assess as people who were compiling thelist of political prisoners and calling the Azerbaijani government to respectits international obligations – such as Rasul Jafarov and Leyla Yunus -languish themselves behind bars.
In this context, the Secretary General of theCouncil of Europe announced on October 7 that it withdrew the Council’sparticipation in the Azerbaijan Joint Working Group on Human Rights, arguingthat the “overall situation of human rights defenders in the country hasdeteriorated dramatically”, as "an increasing number of human rightdefenders has recently been imprisoned, and that the Council of Europe hasreceived worrying reports concerning unacceptable detention conditions"[3].
· Electoralcommissions
According to the Electoral Code of Azerbaijan, Chairpersonsof all electoral commissions are nominees of the parliamentary majority, whichis currently composed of pro-government political parties, thereby underminingthe impartiality of the whole election administration.
· Reactions from other internationalinstitutions
OnSeptember 11, 2015, the OSCE/ODIHR took the decision not to send anelection observation mission, on the grounds that restrictions imposed by theAzerbaijani authorities would not allow the Organisation to fulfill itsmandate. In a needs assessment report, OSCE/ODIHR had previously stressed thatthe 2013 Presidential elections were undermined by limitations on freedoms ofexpression, assembly and association that did not guarantee a level playingfield for candidates. The OSCE/ODIHR had addressed several recommendations tothe authorities on how electoral processes may be improved, which have remainedunaddressed, in particular regarding the composition of election commissionsand the non-transparency of candidate registration procedures.
OnSeptember 10, 2015, the European Parliament decided not to send electionobservers to Azerbaijan, highlighting that “the background for holding free andfair elections does not exist and limitations on the freedoms of expression,assembly and association in the country make it impossible to create a levelplaying field for candidates and to organise a genuinely competitive vote”.
Accordingly,we believe that the restrictive political environment in Azerbaijan, notablythe unprecedented and ongoing crackdown on civil society, render the upcomingelection inconsistent with the Council of Europe standards of free and fairelections.
Weare confident that our concerns will be echoed throughout your assessmentwithin the framework of your mandate, and remain at your disposal to provideyou with further evidence regarding such situation.
Thankingyou for the attention,
Sincerely,
Karim LAHIDJI Gerald STABEROCK Bjørn Engesland
FIDHPresident OMCT Secretary General Norwegian Helsinki Committee Secretary General
[1] TheDeclaration is available at: http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD%282005%29036-e or http://eeas.europa.eu/eueom/pdf/declaration-of-principles_en.pdf.
[2] SeeUrgent Appeal AZE 002 / 1213 / OBS 098, issued by the Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT).
[3] See Press Release issued by the Council ofEurope Secretary General, Council of Europe leaves Azerbaijan human rightsworking group, October 7, 2015: http://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/council-of-europe-leaves-azerbaijan-human-rights-working-group.
