Source: PACE
The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) made a number of recommendations to the Azerbaijani government as part of its ongoing monitoring of the country, according to the June 1, 2015
PACE
press release.
These recommendations include steps to reinforce democratic “checks and balances” in the system, ensure a fairer electoral framework, further boost judicial independence and end the crackdown on human rights in the country.
The committee condemned what it called the “crackdown on human rights in Azerbaijan, where working conditions for NGOs and human rights defenders have significantly deteriorated and prominent and recognised human rights defenders, civil society activists and journalists are behind bars.” It called on the authorities to “end the systemic harassment of those critical of the government”.
The report by Spain’s Pedro Agramunt and Poland’s Tadeusz Iwinski was approved on May 31, 2015 in Paris. The Parliamentary Assembly is set to discuss the draft resolution at the June 22-26 session.