Institute of Peace and Democracy about tasks of democratic public organizations

The final report of the OSCE on the elections in Azerbaijan has attested the falsification of the elections and the offence against Azerbaijan legislation.

Now the democratic institutions of the republic should take a line of making the Council of Europe, the U.S. Congress and other international organizations and institutions to give strict estimates in respect of the offense against republican electoral legislation committed in Azerbaijan and in respect of the campaign of mass repressions developed in the country.

Any slogans of not being patriotic or even of being hostile to the activity on disclosing crimes against the Azerbaijan people and the Constitution of the republic are the ordinary demagogy of the Soviet times.

The democratic public organizations of Azerbaijan should strive to accomplish the following tasks:

1. All the people arrested in connection with the events of October15 and 16 must be immediately released.
2. Mass repressions against dissenters must be ceased.
3. An international commission must be established to inquire into the breaches of the Electoral Code and falsification of the election results and to make conditions to hold new free presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

Leyla Yunus, director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy

November 14, 2003