2008 ORDINARY SESSION

________________________

(Third part)

REPORT

Twenty-first Sitting

Tuesday 24 June at 10 a.m.

ADDENDUM 1

Functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan

The following text was submitted for inclusion in the official report by members who were present in the Chamber but were prevented by lack of time from delivering them.

      Mr VAREIKIS (Lithuania). – The debate on Azerbaijan is one of the most important in this session. It is a kind of so-called litmus test for the Council of Europe, for our behaviour facing the situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

      I will start with a question: what makes people happy, society prosperous, countries well organised? Many of us in the Council of Europe would probably answer very clearly: democracy, the rule of law and human rights make people happy, prosperous and organised.

      It seems to be very natural for every country to try to implement principles of democracy as quickly as possible, especially for so-called young democracies. Some countries do that and they are a success story in Europe.

      But why, in some countries, is it too difficult to make these simple things happen? For example, in Azerbaijan it is because democracy is really not as easy as it looks, and there are countries which think that it is possible to live without democratic institutions and the rule of law.

      I can mention some of them. China declares that industry is successfully replacing the need for human rights; Venezuela, together with Cuba and some other countries, thinks that oil will solve all the problems; Russia relies on its great power status; Belarus, on dictatorial order.

      Azeri authorities also think that the future of the country is not in human rights but rather in oil and gas. All contacts with the country’s authorities start from talk about the growth of the economy and pipelines, rather than the success of building democratic institutions. Even in this report, oil and gas are in the first paragraph of the resolution. Even some of our members (especially representatives of Russia) have said that problems of human rights and corruption are the natural products of development. Azeri authorities very often say that the country is prospering, so there is no need to worry about some undemocratic shortcomings; the situation is improving.

      I want to refer to the words of my Norwegian colleague who rightly said that only democracy first and oil second make a success story. Azerbaijan will never be prosperous and not corrupt if the way of thinking of the authorities does not change.

      When it joined the Council of Europe in 2001, Azerbaijan expressed the formal will to follow European standards with respect to democracy, the rule of law and human rights. If we in the Council of Europe believe in our policies, we need to demand implementation of all that was promised.

      It is not right to think that Europe will accept Azerbaijan however it behaves because Europe needs oil. So the rapporteurs did the right job in supplying the comprehensive list of things that have to be done immediately. In this respect, the report is excellent and without doubt we have to support it.

      However, as an individual, I would wish that in the future the Council of Europe and the Monitoring Committee move less urgent reports and more democratic states with well-functioning democratic institutions.