Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and senator from the People’s Party.
Pedro Agramunt: «We both agree that important progress in the democratization of the country has to be noted. We take note of the impressive legislative work accomplished by the Azerbaijani authorities with a view to bringing laws in conformity with Council of Europe standards.» (February 2011 Fact Finding Information Note)
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Pedro Agramunt is accused of corruption
An independent think tank, the European Stability Initiative (ESI), with offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul, has sent a request for the resignation of Pedro Agramunt, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Agramunt is a senator from the People’s Party of Spain and he represents the autonomous region of Valencia, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca writes in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“Since 1999, this center has been studying the processes of democracy in the Balkans, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space. ESI was established in 1999 in Sarajevo, when eight young people with great experience in international and human rights organizations decided to establish an analytical and research center”, the newspaper reports. It is undesirable to comment on the charges that ESI puts forward against Pedro Agramunt beforehand. Of course, he has the right to be presumed innocent. It should be noted that the activities of ESI and its leadership, especially its director Gerald Knaus are well known. A very good opinion has been formed about him and his work on the movement to open Europe, human rights and democracy, the newspaper writes.
“Knaus is well-versed in civil society issues; he knows human rights organizations, human rights activists and oppositionists in almost all countries of the Balkan Peninsula, the Caucasus and Central Asia. In this regard, their accusations should be taken seriously and studied, since they come from people who enjoy great confidence’’, emphasizes the author. “So, exactly for what does ESI blame Pedro Agramunt?”, asks El Pais.
In order to get a complete picture, one needs to read these 2 reports: “Caviar Diplomacy or how Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe” (La diplomacia del caviar: cómo Azerbaiyán silenció al Consejo de Europa) (May, 2012) and ”A Portrait of Deception. Monitoring Azerbaijan or why Pedro Agramunt should resign” (Un retrato del engaño: monitorizando a Azerbayán o por qué Pedro Agramunt debe dimitir), (January, 2013), reports the author. “Speaking about the main thing, ESI points out that Senator Agramunt, being a speaker on democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan, who was supposed to inform the European public about the voice of the Azerbaijani opposition, instead became one of the main lobbyists of the Aliyev regime in Europe”, – the newspaper writes.
Azerbaijan, where 9 million people live, is regarded as a non-free country practically by all international organizations. After the collapse of the USSR, Heydar Aliyev began to lead the country. When Aliyev died, the presidency was taken by his son Ilham Aliyev, who in 2003 won the elections with “absolutely unquestioned” 88.73% of the vote,” the author says. “When his second presidential term came to an end, in March 2009 Aliyev Jr. called a referendum on amendments to the Constitution,” writes El Pais.
In the course of the referendum 92% of the citizens who voted, stated that they were ready to reconsider the Constitution so that Ilham Aliyev remained in power as much as he liked, the author reports. “To see how deplorable civil and political freedoms are in this country, it is enough to get acquainted with the relevant reports of human rights organizations Amnesty International, Freedom House and Human Rights Watch. The OSCE, by the way, noted that the last elections were not free.”
ESI accused Agramunt of lobbying Ilham Aliyev’s interests, which manifested in blocking sanctions against Azerbaijan, the edition reports. “ESI accuses Agramunt of manipulating observers’ reports from the ground, ignoring civil rights violations, constantly backing the regime, inventing stories about some kind of “progress in democracy “, justifying repressions with references to the Islamist threat. And, after all, in lobbying the interests of the Aliyev regime,” writes El Pais.
Not many Spaniards are working in senior positions in international organizations. Also, few have been instructed to observe the protection of democracy and human rights in other countries,” the Spanish newspaper says. “That’s why their actions should be absolutely perfect,” writes El Pais.
Source: radioazadlyg.org