The debates were held in an extremely tense atmosphere. The representatives of Azerbaijan have never heard such uncomplimentary statements about their country. The members of the monitoring committee criticized the Azerbaijani authorities for the pressure imposed over the freedom of speech and for their attitude towards the political prisoners. The sharpest criticism concerned the referendum on making changes to the Constitution held on August 24. It was noted that the country’s authorities were responsible for mass falsifications observed during the referendum.
Mr. Andreas Gross, co-rapporteur of the PACE monitoring group on Azerbaijan, said that ”the Council of Europe has many pretensions to the official Baku concerning the fulfillment of its liabilities.” Gross didn’t rule out the possibility of imposing sanctions on Azerbaijan. The official Baku has already started to prepare the public opinion to the expected unfavorable conclusion of the monitoring group. The head of the PACE Azerbaijani delegation, Ilham Aliyev, has already said before the Paris session that ”Andreas Gross is the enemy of the Azerbaijani people, and there is no need to expect anything from him”. However, the unfavorable situation with the human rights in Azerbaijan is being observed not only by the CoE monitoring groups. The OSCE also has a very radical position towards the Azerbaijani government that ignores the European norms of democracy.
The deputy permanent representative of the USA in the OSCE Duglas Davidson criticized the administration of Heydar Aliyev for falsification of the results of the referendum. Speaking at the session of the permanent council of the OSCE in Vienna, he said that he doubted about the intention of the Azerbaijani government to hold fair presidential elections in 2003. The diplomat noted that Washington is concerned with the events taking place recently in Azerbaijan. ”The United States are disappointed with the fact that the authorities have restricted the access of the local observers without consulting with the OSCE and the Council of Europe concerning the holding of the referendum,” Davidson said. The representatives of other OSCE member countries said almost the same.
So, it is evident that this time the European organizations have agreed on the issue of the inadmissibility of new concessions to the Baku regime which ignores the undertaken liabilities. There аre all the bases to expect a decision on imposing harshest sanctions on Azerbaijan.
