VZCZCXRO9188
PP RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHKB #1285 2981326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251326Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4110
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0455
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG PRIORITY 0076
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0029

UNCLAS BAKU 001285 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS BRIEF AMBASSADOR ON PACE 
AZERBAIJAN SESSION 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
1, (SBU) On October 23, NGO representatives Arzu Abdullayeva, 
Novella Jafaroglu, Saida Gojamanly, Saadat Benanyarly, and 
Eldar Namazov briefed the Ambassador on their recent trip to 
Strasbourg to participate in the October 1-5 Parliamentary 
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session.  The group 
said that the session, in part, was focused on reviewing the 
situation in Azerbaijan in light of the April 2007 PACE 
resolution, which assessed the state of democracy and human 
rights in Azerbaijan and made recommendations to move 
forward.  According to Abdullayeva, those present were 
pleased to "finally hear the truth" about Azerbaijan from the 
human rights activists.  Namazov said that PACE members had 
told the group that the information the activists had 
presented matched what they had heard from their respective 
ambassadors to Azerbaijan.  He said the activists are now 
being treated "like partners" by PACE members, and noted that 
the group's presentation at the April PACE session had 
resulted in three specific points in the resolution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The activists were positive about an increased level 
of Council of Europe (COE) engagement in Azerbaijan, noting 
the high number of visits to Azerbaijan by a wide range of 
COE bodies and officials.  According to the group, if the 
GOAJ does not fulfill the recommendations from the April 
resolution before the next PACE session on Azerbaijan in 
January, the COE will re-appoint a Special Rapporteur 
designated to work only on the political prisoner situation 
in Azerbaijan.  While there had been two Special Rapporteurs 
on political prisoners in Azerbaijan up until 2005, the new 
position would also posses the authority to refer cases 
directly to the European Court of Human Rights. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Abdullayeva noted that the COE had dissolved the 
previous Rapporteur positions after the creation of a joint 
NGO-GOAJ political prisoner task force, when the COE 
determined that sufficient action was being taken 
domestically.  According to Gojamanly, in spite of the GOAJ 
"trying to hide" the situation, PACE now recognizes that a 
political prisoner problem remains in Azerbaijan.  The group 
concurred that the political prisoner task force has had 
limited achievements, but that no political prisoners have 
been released since 2006.   The NGO members of the task force 
have long complained that the GOAJ was using the group to 
appear to the international community that it was doing 
something to address the problem, while in fact, it was not. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Separately, Abdullayeva shared her plans to announce 
on December 10 - the International Day of Human Rights - the 
creation of the Democracy Council, in follow-up to then-DRL 
A/S Lowenkron's December 2006 visit to Baku.  Abdullayeva 
envisions a council comprised of NGO representatives, 
intellectuals, and "experts," perhaps even from the GOAJ, 
coming together to assess the situation in Azerbaijan on 
different democracy-related topics and then develop a 
specific set of recommendations to move forward.  She is 
currently in the process of creating a proposal, and will be 
seeking funding from the USG and others in the near future. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In an October 24 meeting with the Ambassador to 
provide an update on the range of issues handled by her NGO, 
Institute of Peace and Democracy Director Leyla Yunus also 
raised the issue of political prisoners and the possibility 
of the creation of a new PACE Rapporteur.  Yunus has worked 
with a separate group of human rights activists to develop a 
list of political prisoners slightly different from the one 
created by the NGOs that are members of the political 
prisoner task force.  Like the group that visited Strasbourg, 
Yunus believes the political prisoner problem remains a major 
obstacle for Azerbaijan's democratic development.  We will 
continue to engage with the human rights activists on this 
issue. 
DERSE