Paul Flynn: Exclude Azerbaijan from the Council of Europe

Today Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on "The crisis of democracy and the role of government in modern Europe" based on the report from the Swiss deputy, Andreas Gross. The author believes that the economic crisis in Europe has exacerbated public distrust of democracy. "In a broad sense, this was due to serious shortcomings in the functioning of democratic institutions, which have not been able to prevent, quickly and adequately respond to new challenges," Gross said. In his view, the basic idea of democracy is the control of society over the power and promise of a fair distribution of life chances.      The report noted that a number of CE member countries are still under the monitoring of its obligations: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.      The report highlighted the role of independent media in ensuring democracy, an important institution, which provides control over actions of the government. It points to the inadmissibility of the monopolies in the media that take place in several countries of the Council of Europe.       Among the recommendations to the report, was the widespread use of direct democracy and referendums. Moreover, holding it to the initiative of 2-3% of the population is enough.           Another recommended option is "electronic democracy", in particular, the use of social networks in the transmission the population initiatives to parliaments and other government agencies.          During the debate, the deputy from Armenia, Naira Zohrabyan stuck to attacks on Azerbaijan, rather than Ilham Aliyev. Condemning extremism in Europe, Zohrabian called the speech by the President of Azerbaijan at the PA "Euronest" session in Baku on April 2," a masterpiece of racism and xenophobia."     She also accused the government of Azerbaijan and the press "in the cultivation of tolerance to the Armenians." Zohrabyan also proposed to investigate books on Azerbaijan, where "the Armenians are presented as the killers."      The deputy from Azerbaijan, Rovshan Rzayev, noted that the unresolved Karabakh conflict impedes the development of the country. He called on the Council of Europe to promote conflict resolution. "We do not want war in the Caucasus. If we could solve the Karabakh conflict and return the millions of refugees to their homes, we have not heard those criticisms that we hear in this room," Rzayev said.     British deputy Paul Flynn said that it is impossible to justify the violation of democracy by   the unresolved Karabakh conflict. He said that if the problems of human rights and political prisoners are not solved in Azerbaijan, the country should be excluded from the Council of Europe. Flynn thanked Gross for his assistance in solving the problems of human rights, including Azerbaijan.        Azerbaijani deputy Rafael Huseynov noted the Council of Europe does not react to, Armenian defenders claims of human rights abuses in that country and Armenia's occupation of territories.      After Huseynov’s speech, Jean-Claude Mignon called on deputies from Azerbaijan and Armenia to cease mutual recriminations and respect members of the Assembly.      He said that previously he had net with the heads of the delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia, urging the parties to show restraint. "We will not be able to solve the conflict this way," Mignon said, adding that the restraint is important in the light of the forthcoming six-month presidency of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2013-2014.     Then the Azerbaijani deputy Aydin Abbasov was to speak, but he was not in the room and could not express his attitude to Mignon’s words. Another Azerbaijani parliamentarian, Sevinj Fataliyeva, also was absent at that moment.       During the debate, a number of deputies, mainly from Russia, tried to cast doubt on the effectiveness of Western democratic values. Thus, the logic of the deputy Alexander Sidyakin, is that democracy is fun for the well-fed.