The issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan is neither recognized nor assessed, or resolved, said a report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s Office of Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The organization also spoke about the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan in the 2020 resolution, but the Baku authorities ignored it. The report submitted by the Icelandic MP shows that Baku did not touch upon the main provisions of the 2020 resolution.
“The only exception was the reversal of the convictions of Ilgar Mammadov and Rasul Jafarov, which were unacceptably late,” says Torildur Ovarsdottir, MEP from Iceland.
Azerbaijan’s failure to cooperate with the PACE co-rapporteurs and ignoring the decisions of the ECHR has caused disappointment in the Council of Europe, according to another statement issued by the Committee on Legal Affairs.
Azerbaijan’s behavior in the field of human rights has also attracted the attention of the Netherlands. The country’s parliament has passed a resolution calling on the government to refrain from traveling to Azerbaijan in the event of another victory for the Netherlands at the European Football Championship in Baku.
A motion submitted to the Dutch Parliament calls on the Government not to send a delegation to Baku for EURO-2020, the Federation of Armenian Organizations of the Netherlands informs.
The motion submitted on 22 June in Dutch Parliament by Gert-Jan Segers (Christian Union faction) and Tom van der Lee (Left Green faction), requests the Government not to send an official delegation to Baku for EURO-2020 Football Championship, in case Dutch national team reaches quarter finals.
The MPs cite Azerbaijan’s failure to return the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) after the 44-day war and the opening of the ‘Trophy park’ in Baku, which, among other things, displays the helmets of fallen Armenian soldiers.
A few days ago the three-member faction of the Denk political party of the Dutch parliament, well known for servicing the interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the Netherlands, has changed its position and joined the resolution adopted by the parliament last week, calling on the foreign minister to pressure Azerbaijan at a European level to immediately release the Armenian prisoners of war and other civilian captives.
Denk party is well known for promoting the interests of the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The party is usually elected to the parliament with the votes received from the Turkish community.
