Civil society organizations in Azerbaijan submitted a petition to various parliamentary assemblies and organizations regarding concerns about the statements made by heads of election observation missions that observed recent parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. Specifically, the CSOs took issue with comments made by Mr. Grossruck and Mr. Wille that suggested the elections were mostly in line with standards, despite findings of intimidation, restrictions, and other violations. The CSOs requested explanations of the statements and a reassessment of the election results.

1. PETITION
To: Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the OCSE
Copy to:
The European Parliament
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Civil Society Organizations operating in Europe
We, the undersigned Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working in the field of human rights
and democratization in Azerbaijan, deeply regret about the shortcomings in the speeches of the
heads of election observation missions of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe
(PACE) and Parliamentary Assembly of the OCSE, which observed the 7 November 2010
Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan within the International Election Observation Mission, on
press-conference held on 8 November 2010.
We would like to note with concern that, according to the independent domestic election
observation groups and NGOs, the 7 November 2010 Parliamentary Elections were accompanied
with massive violations of the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as, international
norms; participants of the elections were subject to pressure and intimidation, and the elections
were held in the environment of restriction of the citizens’ freedom of expression, freedom of
peaceful assembly and freedom of association. Therefore, the 7 November 2010 Parliamentary
Elections held in the Republic of Azerbaijan cannot be considered free, fair and democratic.
It should be reminded that on 8 November 2010, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE,
European Parliament, PACE, and OSCE/ODIHR jointly held a press conference, in which
representatives of the above-mentioned institutions expressed their views1 on the elections and
the Preliminary Statement2 of the International Observation Mission was released. However,
opinions of Mr. Wolfgang Grossruck, Head of the Observation Mission of the Parliamentary
Assembly of OSCE, and Mr. Paul Wille, Head of the Observation Mission of PACE, caused deep
regret and concern. Such opinions cast doubt on the impartiality and professionalism of some of
the European observers and undermine the confidence of Azerbaijan’s democratic community in
the OSCE and the Council of Europe.
First of all, our concern is connected with the existence of serious differences between the
essence of the Preliminary Statement of the election observation mission representing the above-
mentioned four institutions and the opinions of Mr. Grossruck and Mr. Wille. As a result of these
differences, the government and pro-government media have been misinterpreting the spirit of
the statement of the joint observation mission.
We specifically object to the following statements of Mr. Grossruck and Mr. Wille:
1
Transcripts of the shortcomings expressed in the press conference are attached to this letter.
2
The Statement can be viewed at: http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/73524

2. In his speech, Mr. Wille mostly gave messages which the government would like to hear and
which cast doubt on his impartiality. For example, his opinion quoted below has created serious
discontent in the democratic community of Azerbaijan: “From the point of view of the PACE,
while a number of problems and shortcomings were noted in the pre election period and the
day of the elections, 7th of November 2010 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were mostly
in line with our own - PACE, OSCE and international - standards and commitments. A
positive environment was created by a good cooperation between the authorities, international
institutions and the domestic actors.”
Firstly, we would like to note that the above-mentioned opinion of Mr. Wille was not expressed
in the statement of the joint observation mission. Secondly, it is absurd to claim that the 7
November 2010 Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan have met the PACE, OSCE and
international standards. With this kind of approach, Mr. Wille showed disrespect not only to the
people of Azerbaijan, but also to the standards of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and other
international organizations regarding free and fair elections.
In his speech, Mr. Grossruk said: “On general remark ahead of the statement, it is never easy to
do justice to a country which is developing in democratic institutions especially in a difficult
environment.” With these words, he, in advance, cast doubts on professionalism and impartiality
of the statement as well as speeches made on behalf of the joint observation mission, thus
decreasing confidence in reliability of the observation mission’s opinion.
In other parts of his speech during the press conference, Mr. Grossruk used such vague
expressions as “the authorities have worked to do before elections here to fulfill international
election standards”, “we have made a strong effort to be objective and balanced…”, etc. While
using these expressions, he did not take into consideration the existence of undemocratic political
conditions in the country, in which it is impossible to hold free and fair elections. It is also
unclear what Mr. Grossruk meant while saying “balanced”.
Considering all of the above-mentioned, we appeal to the members of the PACE and
Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and request them:
1) To give a comprehensive explanation to the Azerbaijani society about the speeches of the
heads of their observation missions in the last Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan,
made during the press conference held on 8 November 2010;
2) To explain to the Azerbaijani society observation methodologies and authorities of the
observation missions which represented PACE and Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE
in the 7 November 2010 Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan;
3) To study seriously and thoroughly the results of the 7 November 2010 Parliamentary
Elections held in the Republic of Azerbaijan and express their re-assessment of the
Elections.
The following CSOs signed this Petition:

3. # Name of Organization Contact person Email address
1 Legal Education Society Intigam Aliyev intigamaliyev@yahoo.com
2 Azerbaijan Lawyers Assosiation Annagi Hajibeyli ahacibeyli@gmail.com
3 Azerbaijan Migration Centre Alovsat Aliyev alovsataliyev@gmail.com
4 Election Monitoring and Democracy Anar Mammadli aspyo@yahoo.com
Studies Center
5 Institute for Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus ipd@online.az
6 Law and Development Public Union Hafiz Hasanov office@law.org.az
7 Public Association for Assistance to Free Zohrab Ismailov paafe@freeeconomy.az
Economy
8 Democracy and Human Rights Resource Asabali Mustafayev mustafayev@list.ru
Centre (Sumgait)
9 Democracy Learning Public Assosation Mirali Huseynov mirelihuseynov@gmail.com
10 Democratic Journalism School Rovshan Hajiyev r_haciyev@yahoo.com
11 Institute of Media Rights Rashid Hajili rashid@mediarights.az
12 Union of Social Strategic Research and Ilgar Huseynli sstaa_ib@yahoo.com
Investigation
13 Centre of National and International Leyla Aliyeva leylalibek@yahoo.com
Researches
14 Center For Support to Economic Initiatives Azer Mehtiyev amehtiyev@gmail.com
15 Center Monitoring of Tenders Leyla Madatli leyla_m_lawyer@yahoo.com
16 Center for Development of Television and Rasul Jafarov resul.j@gmail.com
Alternative Media
17 Public Forum For the Sake of Azerbaijan Eldar Namazov eldar_namazov2004@yahoo.co.uk
18 Institute for Freedom and Safety of Emin Huseynov irfs.az@gmail.com
Reporters
19 “10 December” Youth Union Sanubar Heydarova heydarova@gmail.com
For further information contact:
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