Open Letter: Call for an external, independent, and impartial investigation into allegations of corruption and other violations of PACE's code of conduct in connection with its work on Azerbaijan

All members of theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Copy to:

- Secretary Generalof the Council of Europe

- Commissioner forHuman Rights of the Council of Europe

20April 2017

We,representatives of international and national non-governmental organisations, issuethis appeal prior to a discussion of the investigation into allegations ofcorruption at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) inconnection with its work on Azerbaijan, at the Assembly’s April 2017 sessionand a meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly before the session. We call uponyou to support a full, thorough and independent investigation into the corruptionallegations, with full civil society oversight.

We areextremely concerned about credible allegations presented in a December 2016 reportby the European Stability Initiative (ESI), “The European Swamp: Prosecutions,corruption and the Council of Europe”[1]building on previous findings by ESI and others published in 2012-16[2], detailing improperinfluencing of Assembly members by representatives of the Azerbaijanigovernment. In particular, the reports include credible allegations that PACEmembers from various countries and political groups received payments and othergifts with a view to influencing the appointment of Assembly rapporteurs onAzerbaijan, as well as reports and resolutions of the Assembly on Azerbaijan, mostnotably the PACE vote on the draft resolution on political prisoners inAzerbaijan in January 2013.

Theallegations regarding improper conduct of PACE members are serious, credible,and risk gravely undermining the credibility of the Assembly, as well as theCouncil of Europe as a whole. It is essential that these allegations areinvestigated thoroughly and impartially. Calls andrecommendations for independent investigation into these allegations putforward by ESI have been echoed by many civil society actors, including AmnestyInternational,[3]Transparency International,[4]and a group of 60 members of Azerbaijani civil society actors and 20international NGOs.[5]

Wewelcome the decision of the PACE Bureau on 27 January 2017 to set up anindependent investigation body to shed light on hidden practices that favourcorruption.[6] TheBureau has also committed to revising the Assembly’s Code of Conduct and invitedGRECO (the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption) to provideadvice to the Rules Committee, charged with the investigation.

On3 March, Wojciech Sawicki, PACE Secretary General, presented the AssemblyBureau with a draft terms of reference for the external and independentinvestigation at the Bureau meeting in Madrid. The proposal is credible, defininga wide mandate and competences and including strong guarantees for theindependence of the investigation and safeguards against non-compliance withits work.[7]

Unfortunately,the proposal was met with resistance at the meeting, and no agreement was madeon its substance. The proposal was further discussed at a meeting of the headsof the PACE Parliamentary groups on 28 March in St Petersburg: again, noconsensus was reached on its content, and whether it should be adopted.

Athorough investigation is essential to restore PACE’s credibility and allow itto effectively address human rights violations across the Council of Europe,including in Azerbaijan. The chairman of Azerbaijani NGO the Institute forReporters Freedom and Safety, Mehman Huseynov is already facing reprisals forraising the corruption allegations during the January PACE session. A day afterhis NGO sent a letter about the corruption allegations to PACE members inJanuary, he was abducted and tortured by police and later sentenced for 2 yearson defamation charges for allegedly making false allegations about torture.[8]For PACE to be in a position to respond to such violations, it must be seen asindependent and not under the influence of states wishing to influence theirconduct.

We callupon members of the PACE Bureau to commit to the Sawicki proposal and to callfor a full plenary debate on the proposal at the April session of PACE. We alsocall on the PACE Bureau to include a mechanism of civil society oversight ofthe investigation to ensure its full independence and impartiality.

We callupon all Members of the Assembly to support in the strongest possible terms anindependent, external and thorough investigation. This can be done by signing awritten Declaration on the Parliamentary Assembly Integrity introduced on 25January 2017 by PACE members Pieter Omtzigt (TheNetherlands, Christian Democrat), and Frank Schwabe(Germany, Social Democrat) urging the PACE President Pedro Agramunt(Spain, EPP) to launch a “deep, thorough investigation by an independent panel”that makes its findings public.[9]More than one fifth of the Assembly members have joined the declaration. Morevoices in support of the Assembly integrity are needed. Moreover, PACE membersmust insist on their right to discuss the Sawicki proposal at the April sessionof the Assembly, to ensure that PACE has the mechanisms in place to adequatelydeal with corruption allegations.

We call onthe Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland to make a verystrong statement to affirm that there will be no tolerance of any corruption,including bribery, trading in influence or taking up of roles that imply aconflict of interest, in the Parliamentary Assembly and theCouncil of Europe in general.

Commitmentto the rule of law, integrity, transparency, and public accountability shouldbe effectively enforced as the key principles of the work of the ParliamentaryAssembly. If such a decision is not made now, reputational damage to PACE maybecome irreparable, preventing PACE from fulfilling its role as a guardian ofhuman rights across the Council of Europe region.

Signatures:

1. The NetherlandsHelsinki Committee

2. InternationalPartnership for Human Rights (Belgium)

3. Centre for theDevelopment of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia)

4. Freedom Files(Russia/Poland)

5. NorwegianHelsinki Committee

6. Ukrainian Helsinki Human RightsUnion

7. Analytical Center forInterethnic Cooperation and Consultations (Georgia)

8. Article 19 (UK)

9. The Barys Zvozskau BelarusianHuman Rights House (Belarus/Lithuania)

10. Index on Censorship (UK)

11. Human Rights House Foundation(Norway)

12. Human Rights Movement “BirDuino-Kyrgyzstan”

13. PEN International (UK)

14. Crude Accountability (USA)

15. Legal Transformation Center(Belarus)

16. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

17. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) (Switzerland)

18. The Kazakhstan InternationalBureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law

19. Belarusian Helsinki Committee

20. Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine)

21. Promo LEX (Moldova)

22. Libereco –Partnership for Human Rights (Germany/Switzerland)

23. Public Association “Dignity”(Kazakhstan)

24. Human Rights MonitoringInstitute (Lithuania)

25. Swiss HelsinkiCommittee

26. Human Rights Information Center(Ukraine)

27. Public Verdict Foundation(Russia)

28. Albanian Helsinki Committee

29. Kharkiv Regional Foundation“Public Alternative” (Ukraine)

30. Helsinki Foundation for HumanRights (Poland)

31. Women of Don (Russia)

32. DRA - German-Russian Exchange (Germany)

33. Association UMDPL (Ukraine)

34. European Stability Initiative(Germany)

35. InternationalMedia Support (IMS) (Denmark)

36. Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden)

37. InternationalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH) (France)

38. Sova Centerfor Information and Analysis (Russia)

39. KosovaCentre for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (Kosovo)

40. TruthHounds (Ukraine)

41. People in Need Foundation (Czech Republic)

42. Eastern Partnership Civil SocietyForum (Belgium)

43. Macedonian Helsinki Committee