03-02-2012 12:14:31

PACE reps cite progress on Azerbaijan commitments

Azerbaijan has made progress in meeting its commitments to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE co-rapporteurs said in Baku Thursday.

“Amendments and addenda have been introduced to a number of laws, and we believe that Azerbaijan is on the right path,” Pedro Agramunt, who was paying a visit to Baku along with Joseph Debono Grech, the other PACE co-rapporteur, told a news conference.

According to the co-rapporteurs, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh was on the agenda of their meetings with Azerbaijani officials. They also met with Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the war with Armenia in the early 1990s.

“We regret that the people who live in the territories located close to the Line of Contact [of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops] are dying. We believe that this is not a “frozen” conflict, and it continues,” the co-rapporteurs said.

The co-rapporteurs said they would report on the outcomes of their visit to Azerbaijan at a meeting of the Monitoring Committee due in Paris in March, while a comprehensive report on the country will be ready at the end of 2012.

During their three-day visit, which aimed to monitor Azerbaijan’s implementation of its CoE commitments and the conditions provided for democratic and civil society institutions, co-rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee held meetings in parliament, Prosecutor-General’s Office, Ministry of Justice, political parties, and public organizations.

TAGS: Azerbaijan, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Pedro Agramunt, Joseph Debono Grech, Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia