Council of Europe steps up criticism against Baku

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Council of Europe has withdrawn from a joint group on human rights issues in Azerbaijan, according to a written statement released Sept. 7, by the spokesperson of the organization’s secretary general.

Thorbjørn Jagland, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, informed the Committee of Ministers of his decision to withdraw the Council’s participation in the joint working group on human rights issues in Azerbaijan, read the statement. 

Since October 2014, a Council of Europe representative had been attending meetings in Baku intended to revive the dialogue between civil society and Azerbaijani authorities. 

“Despite this initiative, the overall situation of human rights defenders in the country has deteriorated dramatically. An increasing number of human right defenders have recently been imprisoned and the Council of Europe has received worrying reports about unacceptable detention conditions,” said the statement
Prior to his intervention at the Committee of Ministers, the secretary general had informed Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev of his decision.