The PACE Committee proposed strengthening monitoring of Azerbaijan's compliance with human rights obligations.

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release all political prisoners, cease persecution of journalists, opposition figures, and human rights defenders, and expressed concern over Azerbaijan's failure to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in January 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution by a majority vote limiting the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation in response to human rights violations in the country and the growing number of political prisoners. The document also mentions human rights violations in the Lachin corridor and states that PACE "condemned the military operation of the Azerbaijani army in September 2023," which led to the exodus of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani delegation left the PACE meeting, accusing the structure of double standards, and in August dozens of its members weredeclared persona non grata in Azerbaijan. On September 6, 2024, the country's president, Ilham Aliyev, stated that the ban on PACE members visiting Azerbaijan would be lifted when the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation in this organization were restored. In 2025, Azerbaijan did not send a delegation to PACE, but at the end of September, a delegation of the Council of Europe Committee against Torture visited the countryafter having been denied access to Azerbaijan a year and a half earlier.

The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights expressed deep concern at its meeting in Tallinn about the systematic practice of "silencing critical voices in Azerbaijan," including through restrictive legislative measures, in particular the laws on the media, political parties, and non-governmental organizations. These laws have resulted in "the suppression of independent journalism, genuine political opposition, civic space, and freedom of expression," according to a statement published on the PACE website on May 29.

The Committee condemned the continued detention and criminal prosecution of Anar Mammadli, a human rights defender, election observer, and laureate of the 2014 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.

The parliamentary body also condemned the repression of journalists and independent media outlets, bloggers, pro-democracy activists, opposition representatives, and human rights defenders, many of whom remain in prison.

16:23 14.05.2026

Following the escalation of tensions in Iran, believers have joined the list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijan Human Rights Union has published a new list of political prisoners, including 328 individuals the organization considers political prisoners. After the January update, some political prisoners were released under an amnesty, but new arrests continued, including among believers.

In this regard, the committee expressed concern about the significant increase in the number of political prisoners recorded by human rights defenders - 328 people as of May 2026, as well as the large number of key decisions of the European Court of Human Rights that Azerbaijan has not yet implemented.

Having endorsed the report of Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SED group, rapporteur on the topic: "Threats to the life and safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan"), the committee called on Azerbaijan "to comply with its international obligations under the Statute of the Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights and other international human rights treaties."

Parliamentarians called on the Azerbaijani authorities to stop threats and criminal prosecution of individuals targeted for their journalistic activities, publications on corruption, pro-democratic stance, or advocacy human rights, and to ensure the immediate release of those arrested. They also demanded the release of all persons recognized as political prisoners, in accordance with the definition contained in PACE Resolution 1900, adopted in October 2021.

According to the report endorsed by the PACE committee, Azerbaijan should resume its participation in the Committee of Ministers’ process for monitoring the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and implement all judgments of the Court that remain unimplemented.

Furthermore, the committee considers that the Azerbaijani authorities should not use their decision not to send a parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly as a pretext for failing to comply with their obligations and commitments arising from their membership of the Council of Europe and their accession to its international treaties.

Finally, the committee invited the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to exercise the powers granted to him by Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights “to obtain clarification from the Azerbaijani authorities as to how the internal The country's legislation ensures the effective implementation of the Convention."

The report will be discussed at the June plenary session (22-26 June) of PACE.

According to a Baku expert, the PACE Committee has chosen a softer form of influence on Baku than the “joint response procedure.”

“The Joint Complementary Procedure is a separate political mechanism of the Council of Europe, introduced in 2019. It allows the three statutory bodies of the organization – the Committee of Ministers, PACE, and the Secretary General – to jointly respond to cases where a member state seriously violates its obligations to the Council of Europe. This procedure may ultimately lead to consideration of the suspension of the member state’s rights or even the termination of its membership. Invoking Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights merely gives the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the right to request clarification from the state on how its domestic legislation ensures the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. This is more of an informational and control mechanism. "Mechanism. The application of Article 52 could lead to lengthy, non-binding correspondence between the Azerbaijani government and the Council of Europe Secretariat. On the other hand, the Council of Europe bureaucracy is by no means inclined to confront Baku, understanding that this could lead to an escalation of the conflict between Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe and the country's withdrawal from the organization. Russia has already left the Council of Europe, and Azerbaijan and Georgia are refusing to cooperate with PACE. If Azerbaijan withdraws from this organization, some other countries, such as Georgia, could follow suit, and then the organization will become completely unnecessary," said a lawyer who wished to remain anonymous.

The Azerbaijani authorities have not yet responded to the report from the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.