An event dedicated to crackdown on human rights in Azerbaijan will be held within the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that opens in Strasbourg on Monday.

Side-event titled “Unprecedented Repression in Azerbaijan” organized by International Media Support (IMS) and Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) will be held on October 2.

The event will bring together representatives of human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch.

In the latest article, Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan’s longstanding repression of independent voices has reached crisis levels, even as it nears the end of its six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe. The situation puts to the test the council’s standing as Europe’s foremost human rights body.

“The Azerbaijani government’s systematic crackdown on human rights defenders and other perceived government critics shows sheer contempt for its commitments to the Council of Europe,” said Giorgi Gogia, senior South Caucasus researcher at Human Rights Watch. “To let the relentless repression go unanswered threatens the very credibility of the institution.”