Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 6 2005
PACE Monitoring Committee meeting starts in Baku
Baku, July 5, AssA-Irada
A two-day meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee started in Baku on Tuesday.
Co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan Andreas Gross and Andres Herkel, as well
as the rapporteur on the Upper Garabagh conflict David Atkinson and
the Committee members are attending the meeting.
In his opening speech, the Milli Majlis (parliament) Speaker Murtuz
Alasgarov said Azerbaijan has fulfilled all of its commitments to the
Council of Europe (CE), as the country’s parliament has passed over
40 relevant decisions. Alasgarov noted that the `political prisoners’
issue has been fully resolved in Azerbaijan after President Ilham
Aliyev signed decrees on pardon.
Touching upon the November parliamentary elections, the Speaker said
they will play an important role in the democratic development in the
country. All the needed steps will be taken to conduct democratic and
transparent elections, he said.
Commenting on the amendments made to the Election Code, Alasgarov
said the recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights and the CE Venice Commission have been
taken into account in the bill.
The Speaker said that Azerbaijan hopes for the PACE support in the
areas of democratization and human rights.
The Monitoring Committee members were briefed by leaders of political
parties, representatives of NGOs and media and heard reports from
Minister for Justice Fikrat Mammadov, Interior Minister Ramil Usubov
and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.*