Azerbaijani civil society activists and oppositionists are not satisfied with meetings with PACE Co-Rapporteurs

On January 21, in Baku, members of NGOs and opposition parties of Azerbaijan met PACE Co-Rapporteurs Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora and Joseph Debono Gresh. The main topics of the meetings included the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, the status of fundamental human rights, and the outcome of the presidential election. Civil society activists and oppositionists have expressed their dissatisfaction with the attitude of the PACE Co-Rapporteurs, who, according to the activists, were trying to smooth the problems and shortcomings existing in the country.

From the Azerbaijani side, the meeting with civil society activists was attended by Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Rasul Djafarov, a coordinator of the human rights campaign "Art for Democracy", Samil Kazimly, a coordinator of the "Alliance of Protection of Political Freedoms, Novella Djafaroglu, the head of the "Society for Protection of Women's Rights", and Saadat Babanyarly, the head of the Azerbaijani Office of the International Committee of Human Rights.

According to Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), the Co-Rapporteurs gave no specific promises in solving any problems. "They were trying to smooth all the problems and generally noted that they would raise the problems of the activists' concern at the meetings with members of the Azerbaijan's Government," Emin Guseinov has stated.