Reported cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 15149
| 24 September 2020
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1384th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (23 September 2020). 2020 - October Standing Committee
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2170
(2020)
1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully
examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2170 (2020) “Reported
cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan”. As noted in the recommendation,
the Committee closely supervises the execution of the judgments
cited as part of its enhanced supervision procedure.
2. The Committee points out that in the Ilgar Mammadov group
of cases, the Court found, in respect of each of the eight applicants,
a violation of Article 18 in conjunction with Article 5 of the Convention.
Following the procedure initiated by the Committee of Ministers
under Article 46, paragraph 4, of the Convention, the Court confirmed
in its Grand Chamber judgment of 29 May 2019 that Azerbaijan has
failed to fulfil its obligation under Article 46, paragraph 1, of
the Convention to abide by the Ilgar
Mammadov judgment of 22 May 2014.
3. In its Interim Resolution
CM/ResDH(2020)47,
adopted on 5 March 2020, the Committee of Ministers reiterated that
the findings of the European Court made it clear that
restitutio in integrum in the Ilgar
Mammadov group of cases required the quashing of the applicants’
convictions, the erasure of the convictions from their criminal
records and the elimination of all other consequences of the criminal
charges brought against them, including by fully restoring their
civil and political rights. It urged the Azerbaijani authorities
to ensure that all the necessary individual measures be taken in
respect of each of the applicants without any further delay and
to report to the Committee by 30 April 2020 at the latest. On 23
April 2020, the Azerbaijani authorities informed the Committee that
the Plenum of the Supreme Court had re-examined the cases of Ilgar
Mammadov and Rasul Jafarov and quashed their convictions in the
light of the findings of the European Court of Human Rights, also
awarded them compensation for non-pecuniary damages. At its 1377bis
meeting (1-3 September 2020), the Committee resumed its consideration
and decided,
inter alia, to
close the supervision of the cases in respect of Ilgar Mammadov
and Rasul Jafarov and urged the authorities to urgently ensure a
rapid
restitutio in integrum for
each of the six other applicants. The Committee will resume its
consideration at its 1390th meeting (1-3
December 2020) (see
CM/Del/Dec(2020)1377bis/H46-3).
4. With regard to the Gafgaz Mammadov group of cases, the Committee
found that there were no outstanding individual measures in respect
of the administrative arrest of the applicants, at the time of the events,
for a period ranging from 3 to 15 days and who were no longer in
detention. The Committee’s enhanced supervision now focuses on the
complex problems stemming from the non-compliance of the domestic legislation
on public assemblies with the requirements of Article 11 of the
Convention. In this context, the Committee firmly called upon the
authorities to provide a comprehensive action plan or action report
on the measures taken or envisaged to address these problems. The
Committee will continue to closely supervise the execution of the
Court’s judgments in this group of cases.