In January 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution, making the unprecedented decision not to ratify the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation. The credentials were challenged on substantive grounds referring to the worsening human rights situation, Azerbaijan’s failure to meet its obligations and commitments before the Council of Europe, and its lack of cooperation with the PACE and its monitoring procedures. It was the first time the PACE sent a strong signal to the Azerbaijani government.
Since the adoption of this resolution in January 2024, Azerbaijani authorities have intensified repression throughout the last year, arresting dozens on politically motivated and fake charges and continued to refuse to cooperate with the institutions and monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe.
Ahead of its January 2025 vote on renewing Azerbaijan’s credentials, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) and several other international human rights organizations sent a joint letter to the PACE and recommended confirming the non-ratification of the credentials of the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the PACE.