On the eve of the Parliamentary Assembly vote on Georgia's admission to the Council of Europe, Human Rights Watch cautioned against early admission for neighboring Caucasus republics, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
With Georgia on the verge of Council of Europe accession, political pressure may build for accession of Armenia and Azerbaijan as well," explained Human Rights Watch's Holly Cartner. "But we strongly believe their accession would be seriously premature, and that there should be no further progress on those applications until the governments demonstrate a meaningful commitment to Council of Europe standards."
The primary purpose of the Council of Europe, established in 1949, is to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout its member states, which now number forty. "The Council of Europe's capacity to fulfill its purpose depends on the maintenance of high standards of admission," continued Ms. Cartner.
"In Georgia, although serious human rights concerns remain, particularly with respect to impunity for police abuse, we have seen the Council of Europe accession process playing a positive role, facilitating much-needed reform," Cartner stated. "In Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the other hand, at a time when the applications are under review and we would expect to see improvements, in many important areas in both countries we have seen deterioration in the human rights situation."
Among the criteria for accession to the Council of Europe, in the case of Armenia and Azerbaijan, many believe that progress toward resolution of their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is the preeminent consideration. "While resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is important for the Council of Europe accession process, we are concerned that insufficient emphasis may be being placed on other serious human rights problems in Armenia and Azerbaijan," Cartner commented.
Human Rights Watch representatives are on hand in Strasbourg this week to monitor the debate on Georgia's application for accession. They will also discuss their recent findings in Armenia and Azerbaijan with the delegations from those countries and with the parliamentary rapporteurs tasked with analyzing the accession applications. "We will be discussing with the rapporteurs a number of clear benchmarks that we believe Armenia and Azerbaijan must meet before the Council of Europe invites them to join," Cartner said.
Detailed summaries of Human Rights Watch findings in Armenia and Azerbaijan to be presented to the rapporteurs are available here.
For further information, contact:
Pamela Gomez (Strasbourg): 33-3-88-22-30-30
Elizabeth Andersen (Strasbourg): 33-3-88-22-30-30
Lotte Leicht (Brussels): 32-2-732-3009
Rachel Denber (NYC): 1-212-216-1266
