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Government interference in Azerbaijan's upcoming parliamentary elections has diminished prospects for a free and fair vote, Human Rights Watch said. In a nine-page backgrounder issued ahead of the November 5 vote, Human Rights Watch described how the government has prevented opposition candidates from contesting the election, and charged that Azerbaijan was backtracking on its commitments to the Council of Europe.

"Admission to the Council of Europe is supposed to be tied to a demonstrated commitment to human rights and the rule of law," said Rachel Denber, Acting Director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The conduct of these elections shows that Azerbaijan still has a long way to go."
Human Rights Watch researchers in Azerbaijan have documented how local government officials in Azerbaijan intimidate those who gather signatures for opposition candidates' registration and citizens who signed nomination sheets. Officials also use delaying tactics to prevent opposition candidates from completing the registration process in time. Once candidates completed the registration process, election commissions arbitrarily declared their signature lists invalid, blocking access to the ballot for hundreds of independent, opposition, and other candidates who had completed requirements for registration. No independent domestic groups are permitted to monitor the vote. For months prior to the elections, the government attempted to intimidate the opposition-affiliated and independent media through libel suits, threats of closure, detention and other harassment.

Azerbaijan's record of backtracking on its commitments on democratization—particularly those made to the Council of Europe—gained broader meaning in a statement by the head of the Presidential Administration, Ramiz Mehtiev. In October he announced that Azerbaijan does not consider any Council of Europe recommendations on democratization to be legally binding, and that attempts to pressure their adoption should be considered as infringements on the country's sovereignty.

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