Controversial statement from experienced politician
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan’s recent decision to restore a joint working group on Human Rights has sparked mixed reactions among influential European and international organizations.
The Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland first hailed the group's restoration as a significant step towards improving the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. He even expressed hope that the Joint Group on Human Rights will contribute to achieving important results in the field of human rights.
Two weeks is not a long period to forget your own statements. It is a rather unexpected reaction from and experienced politician like Jagland.
Jagland seemed quite sincere and unbiased while making his first statements about the group's reopening and future activities. However, in his later interview with The Guardian, he stepped back from the first viewpoint sounded in Baku and made some absolutely controversial comments.
Jagland hailed the group's activity and expressed his positive expectations in October, but he criticized and put the group's activity under doubt in November. Does Jagland's ability to think depend on the month of the year, or does he alter his opinions based on the calendar? Difficult to find an answer.
Jagland's hypocrisy has shed more light on Europe's biased policy towards Azerbaijan. His U-turn suggests that the political institutions in Europe have never had sincere relations with Azerbaijan.
Europe is not worried about Azerbaijan's one million refugees and IDPs who were forcibly expelled from their native lands as a result of Armenian occupation of 20 percent of its territory. They remain indifferent to the fate of Azerbaijanis taken hostage by Armenians in the occupied Kalbajar region, as none of the human rights organizations of Europe has ever voiced its concern over the issue. Even Jagland remains silent over the illegal arrest of Azerbaijanis. However, he spares no effort to voice his protest when it comes to human rights situation in Azerbaijan.
Jagland's ambiguous stance has sparked criticism among many state officials and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov believes that Jagland's mismatching comments were the result of pressure by anti-Azerbaijan forces on him.
"Mr. Jagland fairly noted that Europe is facing an erosion of the rights of national minorities, as well as the freedom of expression. Azerbaijan is really a tolerant country in terms of the protection of national, religious and human rights, and can act as a peculiar model in this regard. I think, accusing young democracies of rights violations, instead of conducting serious investigation into the existing situation in Europe, is a naive approach towards the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. We invite Mr. Jagland to profoundly think about this issue," Hasanov said.
The Member of Parliament, Co-Chair of the Committee on Energy Security, Fuad Muradov said Azerbaijan is a member of the Council of Europe and fulfills all commitments it has taken. "This position is in fact a simple tool to put pressure on Azerbaijan which is illogical. Jagland should realize that talking with Azerbaijan in a dictating language is unacceptable," Muradov noted.
Human Rights Activist Seadet Benenyarli said Jagland was wrong to criticize the joint group after several days of resumption of its activity. Jagland was in a hurry to express his opinion about the group. "He could have waited for the initial results of the group's activity," Benenyarli said.
The joint working group consisting of representatives of civil society and authorities of Azerbaijan aims to revive a dialogue between the Azerbaijani government and its civil society. The group's name was changed to the Joint Group on Human Rights since its reactivation after five years.