The moral framework of Azerbaijan is axing a sleeping man. Leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Naira Zohrabyan, who is also the member of the Armenian delegation to PACE, said the aforementioned at the PACE session today. 

Two joint reports – “Strengthening the protection and role of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States,” as well as another one on inappropriate interference into the operation of NGOs were discussed at today’s session.

The authors of the aforementioned reports referred to the violation of human rights defenders rights and the legislation hindering the operation of NGOs in Council of Europe member-states and especially Azerbaijan. Armenian delegation member Naira Zohrabyan also touched on the mentioned issues.

In her speech, PAP MP said: “Yes, there are issues related to the human rights violations in different Council of Europe member states, including in our country, and we are ready to discuss them openly and publicly. But there is one country in our organization, which is exceptional in the manifestation of cynicism towards the human rights. That is Azerbaijan, where speaking about human rights and freedom of speech is equivalent to Daniel Harms’ humoresques,” Zohrabyan said.  

According to her, dealing with human defense and public activity in Azerbaijan is equivalent to suicide. “The restriction which the NGOs face for legal registration is like passing through an entire Golgotha. To get registered, NGOs must present facts – please pay attention to this - that they respect the national moral values of Azerbaijan. However, “respect for the Azerbaijani national moral values” is a rather suspicious concept. For instance, when the Azeri military officer Ramil Safarov axed the Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, the Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner, Elmira Suleymanova, announced that that was an example of patriotism for the youth. This is the moral framework of Azerbaijan,” she noted.

In Zohrabyan's words, the human rights defenders, representatives of the civil society and journalists are sentenced and sent to jail in Azerbaijan only for their reluctance to become slaves of the regime.

“Let’s remember Leyla and Arif Yunus, Khadija Ismayilova and Ilgar Mammadov, as well as dozens of other political prisoners, who are sentenced to slow death in Azerbaijani jails,” Zohrabyan said.