During the discussion of the report on “Implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights” in the plenary session of the PACE spring session Turkey and Azerbaijan were seriously criticized.
The author of the report, the delegate representing Cyprus, Constantinos Efstathiou, stated: “In November 2022, I visited two countries, Azerbaijan and Romania, which, together with Hungary, Turkey, and Ukraine, have the largest number of unexecuted judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.” The spokesperson of the Group of the Unified European Left, Spanish delegate Laura Castel expressed concern about recent developments in Turkey.
“Yesterday morning, we woke up to the news of mass arrests by the Turkish government in Amed to influence the elections. Among those arrested are lawyers, journalists, heads of the “Green Left Party” headquarters, etc., and about 110 were arrested. That alarming problem is closely related to implementing the European Court of Human Rights judgments. The report reminds us of the well-known cases where Mr. Osman Kavala and Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş are in prison awaiting the execution of the court’s verdict.”
Canadian delegate Stefan Bergeron also reminded that Azerbaijan did not comply with the decision of the European Court and said: “In the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, I submitted a motion, which was passed unanimously, calling on the Azerbaijani authorities to reopen the corridor and, I quote, “ensure freedom of movement to avoid a worsening of the humanitarian situation, given the ongoing and escalating serious crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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I want our Azerbaijani partners to understand that the world has remembered this unacceptable blockade, which contradicts the ceasefire terms, which their country has nevertheless accepted. In conclusion, the rapporteur, Mr. Constantinos Efstathiou, emphasizes in the report that “a significant part of the cases of the European Court of Human Rights pending execution by Azerbaijan refers to the consequences of this conflict.”
Therefore, I join the rapporteur in calling on Azerbaijan to comply with these court rulings, which, as he states, “resolve the problem of democracy and the rule of law.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
