Azerbaijan to be expelled from Council of Europe?

[onjig]

Azerbaijan’s not carrying out the decisions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) may lead to its expulsion from the Council of Europe (CoE), wrote Kommersant newspaper of Russia.

According to the paper, the CoE Committee of Ministers is for the first time preparing a petition to submit to the ECtHR Grand Chamber, since the Azerbaijani authorities refuse to carry out the ECtHR decisions, and the procedure was launched against Azerbaijan.

Kommersant recalled that if a country violates Article 46 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, it may be expelled from the CoE.

Azerbaijani authorities refuse to release opposition activist Ilgar Mammadov, despite the ECtHR decision that his detention was unlawful and politically motivated.

[Yervant1]

Big deal! A useless council that never speaks the facts, their only sentence is "both sides should refrain from altercations" instead of finding the real aggressor and hold them responsible.

[Yervant1]

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 26 2017

HRW: Azerbaijan faces legal action for defying European Court

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) international organization has published an article by its representative Philippe Dam, touching upon the decision made by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers against Azerbaijan regarding Ilgar Mammadov’s case.

“Azerbaijan is finally facing consequences for keeping political activist Ilgar Mammadov behind bars in violation of his rights and its legal obligations. On Thursday, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers decided to trigger legal infringement proceedings against the country.

This may seem like a baby step, but it’s not. Rather, it’s unprecedented and bold – something the Council of Europe has never done before. The proceedings could ultimately lead to suspending Azerbaijan’s voting rights or its expulsion from the Council of Europe.

In May 2014, the European Court for Human Rights delivered an unambiguous judgement: It found the detention, since February 2013, of political analyst and critic Mammadov illegal, stating it was aimed at “silenc[ing] and punish[ing] him for criticizing the government.” The court made it clear that Mammadov should be freed.

More than three years later, Mammadov is still behind bars – despite more than a dozen resolutions by the Committee of Ministers requiring the Azerbaijani government to release Mammadov and a dedicated inquiry launched by Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland into Azerbaijan’s failure to do so.

Last week’s decision is a welcome demonstration of resolve, and I hope it will end Baku’s scorn for the court. Infringement is a lengthy process, so any decision on Azerbaijan’s expulsion from the Council of Europe will not happen that soon. This gives the Azerbaijani government a last chance to do the right thing and release Mammadov,” Philippe Dam wrote.

The author also stated that Mammadov’s case is not isolated. Dozens of critics, human rights defenders, and media professionals, including blogger Mehman Huseinov, arrested in February, and journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, abducted in Tbilisi in May, are unjustly in prison in Azerbaijan.

“The government’s international partners, including the European Union, should make it clear that continued disregard for the court and the failure to release political prisoners will lead to more serious consequences,” he concluded.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/09/26/HRW-Azerbaijan-legal-action-European-Court-Ilgar-Mammadov/1840391