Get quality reporting directly into your inbox The motion was filed June 30 with 158 signatories and described a lack of confidence in Agramunt as PACE president “on the grounds that his behaviour seriously harms the reputation of the Parliamentary Assembly and tarnishes its image.” Friday’s resignation followed an eventful year for the assembly. In June, the Council of Europe launched an internal corruption probe after allegations of “caviar diplomacy” between some assembly members and Azerbaijan The probe came after OCCRP and its partners found that former assembly members had received payments from a secret slush fund following behaviors that served in the interest of Azerbaijan’s political elite The OCCRP investigation revealed that on Oct 2013 Eduard Lintner was paid €61,000 (US$ 84,000) for unspecified “services.” Only two weeks later Lintner outwardly supported the Azerbaijani election process that both the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the US Department of State deemed flawed Then two days after his endorsement of the elections, he received another €41,000 (US$ 56,000) to his personal bank account, according to OCCRP’s investigation Similar patterns ensued with former Italian assembly member Luca Volonte as well as president of the Slovenian National Party and former substitute at PACE Agramunt was stripped of his powers in April over a meeting with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and over the poor managing of internal corruption allegations A 2013 monitoring report written by Agramunt and Maltese politician Joseph Debono Grech understated Azerbaijan’s democratic shortcomings, according to The Economist. “From the very beginning of his relationship with Baku he has been a defender of the Aliyev regime,” wrote the European Stability Initiative think-tank in reaction Agramunt will still be a member of Spain’s delegation for PACE In line with PACE Rules of Procedure, Sir Roger Gale now stands as Acting President. The assembly convenes Monday in Strasbourg to debate the crisis in Catalonia and Ukrainian education law Assembly members will also elect by way of secret ballot the next president to hold office until the term ends in January The two proposed candidates are Stella Kyriakides of Cyprus and Emanuelis Zingeris of Lithuania “The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly bear a shared responsibility for preserving the Organisation’s unity, viability and effective capacity to deliver the results that our citizens and our governments expect from us,” Gale stated in the opening of Monday’s meeting On the other hand, “Agramunt virtually personifies the fundamental problems of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe … [His] visit to Assad symbolises the exploitation of the Council of Europe by several governments, which refuse to take the institution’s core values seriously,” said German socialist Frank Schwabe, cited in April by The Guardian Support from readers like you helps OCCRP expose organized crime and corruption around the world you’ll be directly supporting investigative journalism as a public good You’ll also gain access to exclusive insights and benefits Shortly after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) issued a largely positive statement praising.. even as the Azerbaijani government made wholesale arrests of activists and journalists A purportedly private Azerbaijani organization paid over a million and a half dollars to a US firm to lobby for the country.. Friday 27 September was the date for the celebration of the first half century of the Penya Barcelonista d'Agramunt i Comarca and the club was honoured by the presence of FC Barcelona president ​​Joan Laporta who was joined by the director responsible for the Social Area and two members of the club's Social Commission who were treated to a video depicting the supporter's club's 50 years of existence a visit to the Turron and Chocolate Museum Santa Maria Church and the Civil War air shelter Laporta arrived in the evening to be welcomed by the mayoress of the town he was led to the Pabellón Ferial for the official celebrations gave a welcome speech before a hearty meal There were also speeches by the president of the South Lleida federation of supporters clubs Some 300 people attended the event in total with the usual commemorative cake and group photo session followed by another viewing of the aforesaid video Members of human rights body’s parliamentary assembly pass vote of no confidence in Spaniard Pedro Agramunt The leader of the parliamentary assembly in Europe’s oldest human rights body has been stripped of his powers after being accused of tarnishing his office by meeting the Syrian president In a move unprecedented in the 68-year history of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace) senior MPs passed a vote of no confidence in the president The Spanish senator was re-elected president for a second one-year term in January but has since faced criticism for his handling of alleged corruption at the assembly and a recent surprise visit he made to Damascus on a Russian military jet A cross-party group of Pace’s senior leaders agreed unanimously on Friday that Agramunt should be banned from making official visits or public statements as president which was co-founded by Winston Churchill after the second world war but failed to show up to the meeting to discuss his future “The president chose not to attend the bureau today and has not presented a letter of resignation and in the context of the current rules of procedure under which the president cannot be compelled to resign the bureau felt it necessary to take these steps,” said Sir Roger Gale a British Conservative MP who chaired the meeting But Agramunt showed no signs that he would hand over the reins A statement in his name circulated among journalists at the Strasbourg assembly described recent criticism of him as “an entirely bizarre case and a regrettable spectacle” The statement did not directly respond to calls for his resignation but urged members to “recover the path of consensus to achieve our foundational goals … and ensure that this situation does not happen again” Officials in Strasbourg did not know where Agramunt was and his office did not immediately respond to questions said: “Agramunt virtually personifies the fundamental problems of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe … [His] recent visit to Assad symbolises the exploitation of the Council of Europe by several governments which refuse to take the institution’s core values seriously.” Agramunt flew to Damascus with a Russian delegation that included Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian Duma’s foreign affairs committee, days before a deadly chemical attack in Idlib province. The unannounced trip was reported by Russian media as a visit by the president of Pace, leaving furious diplomats in Strasbourg scrambling to distance themselves from Agramunt’s freelance diplomacy. Agramunt said on Monday that he had made a mistake by meeting Assad and claimed his visit was “manipulated by Russian media”. He insisted he had travelled not representing the Council of Europe but as a Spanish senator “looking for peace”. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. broke its banks in the early hours of Tuesday Four people died after a nursing home was flooded in the town A further five people were injured but were able to escape the flood waters and are currently recovering in hospital The victims are thought to have been sleeping in their basement bedrooms at the time the flood struck said that the flood has left much of the town under water The local government has since announced a 3 day period of mourning in the town Over the last few days many parts of Spain had been enduring one of the worst storms in 20 years issued alerts for torrential rain that began on 31 October 2015 At one point 29 of Spain’s 50 provinces were on alert Over the weekend southern parts of the country suffered some of the worst rain and strong winds Flooding and storm damage was reported in tourist resorts along the south coast including Malaga and Alicante Since then the rain moved north and east and torrential rain in river catchment areas around Agramunt resulted in the Sió overflowing as many as 18 locations across Spain saw more than 100 mm of rain according to AEMET figures The tragedy in Spain follows the deaths of one person in Portugal and 2 in Italy in a week of severe weather across parts of southern Europe Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush) Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Barcelona Take a journey through history to discover the origins of 'torró' (nougat traditional at Christmastime) and chocolate Around October 12 in Agramunt they celebrate a fair dedicated to torró and chocolate Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! facebooktwitterspotifytiktokAbout us Contact us Time Out Worldwide Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Pedro Agramunt banned from senior roles for 10 years after probe into vote-rigging A former president of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly will be banned from holding any senior post in the human rights body for 10 years after a major corruption inquiry into vote-rigging The unprecedented punishment has been handed down to the Spanish senator Pedro Agramunt He is backed by Spain’s governing conservative party – itself mired in domestic corruption scandals – to which he belongs The assembly (Pace) of the body set up after the second world war to safeguard democracy on the continent announced on Wednesday that Agramunt would be banned from chairing committees or taking part in election observation missions It was the latest response to a 10-month judge-led inquiry into cash for votes in favour of Azerbaijan’s autocratic government a scandal that has plunged the Council of Europe into turmoil the inquiry stated that 15 past and former members had broken the ethics code while four were “strongly suspected” of corruption Three other deputies, who were named in the report, have also been banned from taking senior positions for two years. Jordi Xuclà of the Catalan separatist party PDeCAT, which has also faced corruption allegations in recent years was the leader of the liberal group until he stood down last October Cezar Florin Preda of Romania resigned as head of the European People’s Party while insisting he was not guilty of any offence Samad Seyidov is the head of Azerbaijan’s delegation The fall from grace is most spectacular for Agramunt, who was president of the assembly until October 2017, when he was forced out after joining a Russian-government trip to meet the Syrian leader The Spanish politician has been strongly criticised for refusing to give evidence to the corruption inquiry which said it “strongly suspected” he was party to “corruptive behaviour” The four men will be barred from representing Pace in other international bodies but will retain the right to speak in the assembly Pace called on national political parties “to each draw the consequences of any allegations against their members” while calling on individuals to consider resignation But Spain’s People’s party concluded last month that the inquiry had “no legal consequences” Agramunt has the support of a large majority in the PP has been mired in corruption scandals over recent years In July last year, Rajoy became the first serving Spanish premier to testify in a criminal trial after he was called to give evidence in the Gürtel case in which 37 business and political figures are accused of involvement in a kickbacks-for-contracts scheme who was the PP’s vice secretary general between 1990 and 2003 emphatically denied any knowledge of an illegal funding racket within the party Meanwhile, the fall-out from the Council of Europe corruption inquiry continues, with the prospect of further sanctions, including for two British ex-MPs. Read moreThe former Conservative MP Robert Walter was found by the inquiry to have broken the assembly’s code of conduct, by failing to declare a conflict of interest linked to his wife’s trade lobbying activities in Azerbaijan he strongly denied any conflict of interest Walter had led an election observation mission for Pace in Azerbaijan and carried out an investigation into the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh The former MP Mike Hancock, who was expelled from the Liberal Democrats Hancock was a frequent guest in Baku and once praised its electoral process citing his health and the fact he was no longer an MP Both men face being stripped of the prestige title “honorary associate” of the assembly The report has been sent to the speakers of all 47 parliaments that send MPs to the Strasbourg assembly Pieter Omtzigt, a Dutch MP, who led calls to launch the inquiry, said: “I am very interested to see what the House of Commons will decide to do.” The parliamentary commissioner for standards has the power to investigate ex-MPs an exceptional measure that takes place only following consultations with the Commons committee on standards as saying that a member of Azerbaijan’s delegation at the Council of Europe had €30 million (US$32 million) to spend on lobbying its institutions including the Council of Europe assembly "Everyone" in the Azerbaijani delegation had heard of this money but "it was never written down," he allegedly said "It was said this money was to bribe members of the delegations and Pace generally." a Swedish delegate to the 324-member human rights assembly and former Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy that "very credible members" had told him they had been offered bribes to vote in a certain way Billström is among the 64 parliamentarians who have signed a resolution that calls for an independent investigation into possible Azerbaijani vote rigging Azerbaijan has for years been accused of "caviar diplomacy" or offering cash and luxury gifts to assembly members in exchange for legitimacy to the authoritarian rule of its president But the claims only gathered momentum when Italian prosecutors began investigating a former chair of the centre-right group, Luca Volontè who was accused of accepting €2.39million ($2.5 million) in bribes from Azerbaijan in exchange for efforts to mute the European body’s criticism of Azerbaijan’s human rights record A recent report by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project investigative journalist shows how Volontè allegedly played a key role in orchestrating payments to him channeled through a company with a connection to Azerbaijan’s ruling family Volontè faces a trial for money laundering and has denied any wrongdoing the former Norwegian prime minister and Council of Europe secretary general has urged the Assembly President Pedro Agramunt to ensure "an independent external investigation body without any further delay." Agramunt to ensure an investigation is in place when the assembly meets later this month the southern African nation of Namibia was rocked by the “Fishrot” scandal Brazil arrested ex-president Michael Temer for bribery connected to the Lava Jato Former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych may have funneled 3.7 million euros (US$4.2 million) of bribe money through the.. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Guardian hears claims that oil-rich country tried to bribe members of human rights body to secure votes against reports criticising its president One of Europe’s oldest human rights bodies is being urged to set up a far-reaching anti-corruption investigation next week amid fresh allegations of vote rigging that have put its credibility on the line Two people with high-level experience of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly (Pace) have told the Guardian they believe its members have been offered bribes for votes by Azerbaijan The 324-member body is made up of delegates from national parliaments who meet four times a year in Strasbourg a former Azerbaijani diplomat turned dissident alleged that a member of the oil-rich country’s delegation at the Council of Europe had €30m (£25m) to spend on lobbying its institutions The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 by Winston Churchill and other European statesmen after the Second World War as a bulwark of democracy and human rights It both predates the European Union and is separate to it The Strasbourg-based organisation now has 47 members It elects judges to the European court of human rights and monitors elections in the Balkans and former Soviet Union Azerbaijan joined in 2001 and like all members pledged to "accept the principles of the rule of law" and "guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms" “Everyone” in the Azerbaijani delegation had heard of this number “It was said this money was to bribe members of the delegations and Pace generally.” a Swedish delegate to the assembly and former justice minister said “very credible members” had told him they had been offered bribes to vote in a certain way He is one of 64 parliamentarians to have signed a resolution calling for an independent investigation into “serious and credible allegations of grave misconduct” centred on an Azerbaijani vote Allegations of “caviar diplomacy” have swirled around the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly for years with Azerbaijan accused of offering cash and luxury gifts in exchange for favourable votes The claims were first laid out in a 2012 report by the European Stability Initiative thinktank but have gathered momentum since Italian prosecutors began investigating a former chair of the centre-right group Volontè is accused of accepting €2.39m in bribes from Azerbaijan in exchange for supporting its government in the Council of Europe and Milan’s public prosecutor is appealing a decision to drop a corruption charge against him Although one fifth of MPs at the Council of Europe called for an urgent inquiry in January assembly leaders failed to take a decision at their last meeting in March Pressure is building on the assembly president to ensure that a robust investigation is set up when it meets later this month Agramunt, a Spanish centre-right politician, is already facing criticism for meeting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Asssad, on a Syria visit organised by the Russian government the head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee which came two weeks before chemical attacks near Idlib could tarnish the credibility of the Council of Europe as a human rights defender The Socialist group has declared itself “extremely concerned and worried” and the head of the French delegation has made an official complaint Critics say Azerbaijan uses the assembly to add a veneer of legitimacy to the authoritarian rule of its president, Ilham Aliyev, who has ruled the country since 2003 published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Strӓsser said he knew Azerbaijan was giving out money but had no proof votes were bought He said he wanted to see an investigation “as a point of credibility” “If there is any suspicion that there could be corruption within these structures and this was ignored I think it might be the end of the Council of Europe.” the former Norwegian prime minister and CoE secretary general has urged Agramunt to personally ensure “an independent external investigation body without any further delay” – an unprecedented appeal from an official to the Council of Europe’s most senior elected leader He urged MPs in the assembly to endorse “very good” proposals drawn up by its most senior official setting out the terms for an independent inquiry A spokesman for Agramunt said a revised version of the Sawicki report was being prepared by leaders of the five political groups in the assembly and the report in its current form “was not applicable” “Mr Agramunt has not participated in any deliberation with the political leaders and will not interfere with their work,” the spokesperson said adding that the assembly had “no legal authority to conduct such investigations” “Mr Agramunt will not tolerate unacceptable pressures on MPs’ work that come from some NGOs A new study reveals a previously undiscovered way that we can feel light touches: directly through our hair follicles it was thought that only nerve endings in the skin and around the hair follicles could transmit the sensation The team behind the study, led by researchers from Imperial College London in the UK, used an RNA sequencing process to find that cells in part of the hair follicle called the outer root sheath (ORS) had a higher percentage of touch-sensitive receptors than equivalent cells in the skin From there, the researchers produced lab cultures of human hair follicle cells together with sensory nerves When the hair follicle cells were mechanically stimulated the sensory nerves next to them were also activated – showing that touch had been registered What's more, the experiments revealed that the neurotransmitters serotonin and histamine were being released by the ORS cells through tiny sacs called vesicles as a way of signaling to the surrounding cells "It's an exciting finding as it opens up so many more questions for these cells: why do they have this role, and what else can we learn from them about how our skin senses touch?" says neural engineer Parastoo Hashemi from Imperial College London Touch-sensing nerve cells are known as mechanoreceptors They're the reason we can feel everything from a light breeze to a firm press the hair follicle cells were interacting specifically with low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) While it was already known that body hair plays an important role in the sense of touch the researchers have revealed a more detailed biological interaction between ORS cells and LTMRs beyond a simple mechanical response "This is a surprising finding as we don't yet know why hair follicle cells have this role in processing light touch," says bioengineer Claire Higgins from Imperial College London "Since the follicle contains many sensory nerve endings we now want to determine if the hair follicle is activating specific types of sensory nerves for an unknown but unique mechanism." What's also worth noting from this research is that the experiments were repeated using skin cells rather than hair follicle cells: in this case That suggests something unique about what the ORS cells do Considering that histamine plays a significant role in several inflammatory skin diseases, including eczema it's possible that further research into the way that hair follicles detect touch could also lead to improved treatments and preventative measures "Our work uncovers a new role for skin cells in the release of histamine, with potential applications for eczema research," says Higgins The research has been published in Science Advances An internal inquiry by the Council of Europe has alleged that several former and current MPs from the body’s parliamentary assembly engaged in paid lobbying while others were strongly suspected of conducting ‘activities of a corruptive nature’ in favour of Azerbaijan which was prepared by three former judges from the UK a number of former MPs at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) received money to lobby for Azerbaijan during PACE’s work The report also said that several current and former members may have engaged in ‘corruptive’ activities in favour of Azerbaijan [Read more on OC Media: Council of Europe to investigate ‘Azerbaijani Laundromat’ bribery allegations] ‘With regard to the performance of lobbying activities in PACE the Investigation Body found that a number of former PACE MPs who had performed such activities had acted contrary to the PACE Code of Conduct As to the corruptive activities in favour of Azerbaijan the Investigation Body established that there was a strong suspicion that certain current and former members of PACE had engaged in activity of a corruptive nature’ The Council of Europe is one of Europe’s oldest human rights organisations is made up of 324 members from the national parliaments of the Council’s member states and oversees the European Court of Human Rights the MPs accused of breaching PACE’s Code of Conduct were Pedro Agramunt (Spain) The investigation also established that the following MPs performed lobbying activities in favour of Azerbaijan: Eduard Lintner (Germany) The report said there were also ‘substantial grounds’ to believe that Luca Volontè (Italy) and Elkhan Suleymanov and Muslum Mammadov (Azerbaijan) engaged in ‘activity of a corruptive nature’ with a ‘strong suspicion’ that Pedro Agramunt was involved Six current and former members also failed to comply with the investigation’s request to provide written statements while seven refused to take part in hearing sessions Head of Azerbaijan’s delegation to PACE, Samad Seyidov, rejected the report’s findings during the Assembly’s 23 April session calling it an attempt ‘to present [Azerbaijan] in an unfair way’ The investigation was launched in 2017 and followed Azerbaijan’s alleged efforts to silence criticism in PACE in exchange for gifts and money, which became widely known as ‘caviar diplomacy’ back in 2012 According to the report, the allegations gained momentum following criticism of PACE’s election observation mission during the 2013 presidential election in Azerbaijan and the opening of a criminal case against Luca Volontè former Italian MP and member of the Italian delegation to PACE Volontè was suspected of having accepted over €2 million ($2.4 million) from former members of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE and ‘other unidentified political actors’ in exchange for supporting the interests of the Azerbaijani government in the Council of Europe Volontè voted down a resolution in 2013 criticising Azerbaijan for its human rights record. The resolution was rejected by the Assembly by 125 votes to 79 ‘In September 2017 the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), in association with Transparency International and several European media outlets, published a report alleging the existence of a complex money-laundering scheme involving $2.9 billion under which members of the Azerbaijani ruling elite had used a secret slush fund to pay off European politicians Allegations were also made that some members and former members of PACE and the European Parliament had been involved in this scheme’ [Read more on OC Media: Investigation reveals secret $3 billion UK-based Azerbaijani slush fund] The 22 April report played down allegations that PACE members received gifts from Azerbaijan to influence the Assembly’s work but stressed that such gifts need to be declared for ensuring transparency ‘Those gifts were in general symbolic and considered to be courtesy gifts which were common in many countries and to which no particular importance was attached It was also not possible to establish that such gifts were given in exchange for the agreement of a particular MP or secretariat member to act in a particular way the Investigation Body did not find that the receipt of these gifts played a prominent role in the PACE activities concerning Azerbaijan’ On 23 April, several PACE members requested an urgent debate on the report’s findings and podcasts from the North and South Caucasus The EU looks the other way as Azerbaijan jails journalists and crushes dissent Officials in Tbilisi are surely taking note Syrian and Azerbaijani state news agency coverage of the visit emphasised energy talks between Damascus and Baku Netanyahu’s office has denied reports of Turkey blocking its airspace instead citing developments on Israel’s borders Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry called the decision by Russia ‘an unfriendly step’  Rai 3 investigation – Caviar Diplomacy A political earthquake took place in Strasbourg this week What happens next will determine the future of Europe's leading human rights body The first session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) this year took place against a background of calls to investigate serious allegations of corruption influencing votes on human rights issues On 21 November 2016, the leading investigative format on Italian public television RAI 3, Report, introduced a documentary on corruption in the Council of Europe It focused on the former leader of the EPP in PACE It is an international organisation that was established in 1949 in order to protect and defend the pillars of democracy: freedom of expression and the succession of democratically-elected governments … Strasbourg is the city at the heart of our story where the Council of Europe has its headquarters a certain type of diplomacy with a very curious name is in operation: "Caviar diplomacy" On 17 December 2016, ESI published its second report on Caviar Diplomacy - The European Swamp (Caviar Diplomacy Part 2) – Prosecutors, corruption and the Council of Europe "Luca Volonte has publicly admitted that he accepted € 2.3 million from Suleymanov These transfers started on the eve of an important vote on human rights in Azerbaijan If this is not contrary to the Code of Conduct for PACE members ESI warned that "any serious reforms in PACE are certain to meet with stiff resistance from those who benefit from the status quo." On 18 January 2017 ESI published another newsletter – The FIFA of human rights – beyond lip-service on anti-corruption "Today PACE has a worse anti-corruption system than FIFA PACE also looks bad compared to most other national parliaments … The Council of Europe must not remain the FIFA of human rights." This was followed, on 20 January, by an appeal by Transparency International (TI) "Transparency International and six of its European chapters today called on the three top officials of the Council of Europe to investigate serious allegations of corruption in that organisation and expressed dismay at the apparent lack of effective internal anti-corruption mechanisms at Europe's most important human rights institution." TI urged the Council of Europe to establish "a special integrity framework in line with best international standards" and to: into the circumstances surrounding the PACE vote on political prisoners in January 2013 and into the behaviour of members of the Azerbaijani delegation." Amnesty International sent a letter to leading officials in Strasbourg the same day (and made it public on 24 January): "The allegations regarding improper conduct of members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe with a view to influencing the content of and voting on the Assembly's resolutions are serious credible and risk gravely undermining the integrity and credibility of the Assembly as an institution tasked with upholding and promoting human rights." Winter session – denouncing corruption in PACE  Mogens Jensen (leader of Danish delegation) – Anne Brasseur (former PACE president) When the winter session opened on Monday, 23 January "Let us also denounce all forms of corruption: the deep-seated evil that undermines States it is in the Council of Europe that we should be vigilant." "Some parliamentarians who are members of our Assembly seem to have been implicated in matters relating to their mission and function They seem to be implicated in matters that are being dealt with by the courts and which would have involved other parliamentarians The centre of this vicious circle means that the Council of Europe needs to grapple with the problem These doubts and suspicions are unbearable for the image of the Council of Europe Our strength is not financial; our strength is not military The strength of the Council of Europe is moral We are the vehicles and the guarantors of universal values." "An independent outside investigation must be launched I am speaking directly to the President of the Assembly a former minister from Denmark and head of the Danish delegation: "It is very important that our Assembly and the President respond strongly to such allegations and make two things very clear: first that the Assembly does not in any way accept or tolerate corruption and will fight it in all forms everywhere; and that allegations directed against members of this Assembly will be investigated That is a very important signal to send to our people The leader of the United European Left group underlined that corruption "is a horrible threat to all of us here We have to be aware that any allegations of corruption are allegations against all of us …  If we do not behave we will not be in a position to order others to behave." British Tory Ian Liddell-Grainger leader of the group of European Conservatives and a descendant of Queen Victoria noted that "this organisation was set up by many people to be the beacon of democracy in a war-torn series of nations … but corruption seeps into every part of life Every single one of us has some way of tackling that in their parliament we've got to look at it." Liberal Anne Brasseur but human rights in the 47 member countries are also on the line We simply cannot sweep things under the carpet and turn a blind eye … It should come as no surprise to us when people say that the Council of Europe is a waste of time and that it is useless We must make sure that we do what we can to defend our values the rule of law and human rights across all our member States." the Swiss delegation sent a strong letter to Pedro Agramunt: "La délégation suisse auprès de l'APCE est profondément préoccupée par les accusations propagées dans ces reportages et par certaines rumeurs qui mettent à mal les principaux atouts de notre assemblée Face à ces rumeurs et aux débats qu'elles ont soulevés nous sommes convaincus que l'APCE ne peut plus se permettre d'attendre de voir si les poursuites judiciaires à Milan donneront lieu à une condamnation d'autant que le cas concerné n'est pas le seul qui éveille les soupçons La délégation suisse considère donc qu'il est indispensable que l'APCE prenne les choses en main et fasse la lumière sur cette affaire." Soon a second letter by eight Nordic and Baltic delegations followed: "The recent allegations towards the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its members are damaging the integrity and credibility of the Assembly It is therefore of utmost importance that PACE initiates concrete actions for thorough transparent and independent investigations … For these reasons the Nordic and Baltic delegations call on the Bureau to immediately launch an independent and external investigation of the allegations." The Omtzigt – Schwabe initiative for integrity  Pieter Omtzigt (from the Netherlands) – Frank Schwabe (from Germany) On Wednesday 25 January, a group of MPs led by Dutch MP Pieter Omtzig (EPP) and German MP Frank Schwabe (SPD) submitted a strong declaration as a game changer they called on PACE to do two concrete things; on the other hand they called on all members from across political party groups to support this call: the undersigned members of the Parliamentary Assembly believe that the Assembly must: fully independent and impartial inquiry into all allegations of improper conduct or corruption that may have sought to influence the work of the Assembly in recent years focusing in particular on allegations surrounding the vote on political prisoners in Azerbaijan in January 2013; the conclusions of the inquiry and its recommendations should be made public directly to the Assembly and the public at large; ensure that the Assembly's Code of Conduct is strengthened in accordance with international best practice and recommendations requested from GRECO; and that the strict observance of these standards is monitored and enforced by a permanent independent mechanism attached to the Assembly." Within a few hours this declaration had gathered 64 signatures including another former president of PACE Socialist and Left groups: 7 MPs from the UK  There is also broad support across political groups: 29 Socialists (and Greens) 9 Alde (Liberals) and 1 European Conservatives no Turk and only one Italian signed it so far How many signatures will this declaration get until April And who will remain opposed to these recommendations PACE, Written declaration No. 624 | Doc. 14256, Parliamentary Assembly integrity Faced with demands from all sides for a serious reaction the president of PACE a leading apologist of the regime in Azerbaijan for more than a decade decided to continue to do what he had done for years: to call on PACE to close ranks defining the debate on corruption as a matter of "honour": I cannot allow the honour of the Assembly or of any of its members to be defamed I cannot allow this Assembly to be misused as a platform to fight battles against states that some perceive as rivals or enemies orchestrated by those who are not satisfied with the results of a vote … It is important to understand that unlawful attacks on the honour and reputation of an individual may require defence through the courts." another long-time apologist for Azerbaijan from Spain We are not here simply to look at this matter from a legal angle; we need to talk about this organisation's reputation and image the two Spaniards were joined by Axel Fischer the successor of Luca Volonte and Pedro Agramunt as leader of the EPP in PACE An MP from the German CDU Fischer also wrote a letter to Agramunt "We expect that all current and former members of the Parliamentary Assembly… respect the Assembly's rules and objectives and financial arrangements of said NGOs … We request that the current Rules and Procedures of the Assembly and all other Codes of Conduct be verified in order to ensure that they are adapted to this end and can react in a responsive and effectively manner President that our position regardfing [sic] corruption is one of zero tolerance." It is a response worthy of Donald Trump: the problem for PACE is not the behaviour of Luca Volonte who admitted taking money on television while a PACE member nor the absence of a credible anti-corruption framework; it is the work of NGOs such as ESI Amnesty International and Transparency International Axel Fischer (Germany) letter: who is to blame In conclusion, following days of intense debates in the plenary and in the corridors in Strasbourg, PACE members now face a choice. One option is to sign the declaration on integrity: to back the demand for an external and serious investigation of serious allegations and to reform an embarrassingly weak Code of Conduct This way lies the path to moral redemption and restored credibility for a vital institution The other option is to follow Agramunt; to allege without any evidence that those who point to the need to confront corruption "must be financed by Armenians"; and to ignore demands for a serious investigation What will the choice of the majority of PACE be The weeks until the next session in April will tell Signatories of the Declaration on Integrity so far: DFWatch–The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will discuss a proposal to dismiss its chairperson in early October after a motion was tabled on Friday The motion to dismiss PACE President Pedro Agramunt was backed by 158 out of the 636 member assembly It is signed by members of five political party groups and representing 36 different countries Among the signatories are four members of the Georgian and five members of the Armenian delegation None of the members of the Russian or Azerbaijani delegations backed the motion The proposal will be discussed at the session that starts Agramunt caused controversy after he traveled to war-torn Syria in April and met with President Bashar al-Assad when Agramunt was PACE rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan human rights activists criticized him for being close to the regime in Azerbaijan and pointed out that did little to highlight the numerous violations of human rights there The assembly will discuss the motion at its session in Strasbourg which starts on October 9. Until then, Agramunt will cease to chair the assembly meetings. says a news statement published on the PACE website You must be logged in to post a comment Is this the end of a dark decade and the turning point in the biggest scandal in the history of the Council of Europe Yesterday an independent Investigation Body set up by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2017 and chaired by a former president of the European Court of Human Rights presented a hard-hitting report of 200 pages on the recent corruption scandal in PACE This Body "had been set up by PACE in response to corruption allegations made in various NGO reports and press articles against members and former members of PACE in the context of the Assembly's activities with regard to Azerbaijan": REPORTof the Independent Investigation Bodyon the allegations of corruption withinthe Parliamentary Assembly The authors of the report note that the Investigation Body some of the key players in this story refused to cooperate including the delegation of Azerbaijan and Pedro Agramunt the former president and former head of the EPP in PACE The report makes for riveting and infuriating reading It provides a picture of an institution in a deep moral crisis: "All of this has created or contributed to fears of improper influence on PACE's activities and given the impression of virtual impunity for various forms of inappropriate and unprofessional conduct of rapporteurs it has damaged the Assembly's reputation." This report calls for a strong reaction from all parts of the Council of Europe system: Yesterday the Bureau of PACE took first important decisions: At the same time it is now essential that the Committee of Ministers and secretary general Thorbjorn Jagland respond to the fact that a member state government tried systematically and over many years to undermine the whole institution PACE is central to the credibility of the whole Council of Europe: among other things it elects the secretary general and the judges of the European Court of Human Rights An attack on its integrity is therefore an attack on the whole institution Discussing the role of a prominent Belgian lobbyist for the regime in Baku the report notes: The report does not analyse this "system of lobbying" in detail nor even focus on it explicitly On the reaction to it will depend the future credibility of the Council of Europe @rumeliobserver www.esiweb.org/caviardiplomacy ESI presentation in Stockholm on corruption in the Council of Europe (September 2017) Findings of the Investigation Body (April 2018) Members of the Investigation Body: JeanLouis Bruguière (France) former judge in charge of investigations: Sir Nicolas Bratza (United Kingdom) former judge and former President of the European Court of Human Rights; Elisabet Fura (Sweden) former judge at the European Court of Human Rights and former chief parliamentary Ombudsman of Sweden on the basis of all the evidence before it that there are strong suspicions that corruptive activities played a role in his appointment as President of the EPP in PACE." "Mr Agramunt had sent an email to the witness containing a document with his comments on the report The changes to the report requested by Mr Agramunt had been incorporated in an official version of the draft report and the secretariat had then circulated that revised version of the draft report to other MPs Mr Seyidov [head of the delegation of Azerbaijan in PACE] had then complained that it was unacceptable that they had not changed a certain paragraph in the report in the text circulated to the MPs that paragraph had in fact been changed following Mr Agramunt's request This led the witness to believe that Mr Seyidov had already seen the initial draft report (which was confidential) that had been sent to Mr Agramunt" The report notes that Agramunt made a declaration for the "receipt of a painting from the Speaker of the Russian State Duma on 26 March 2017 – in 23 April 2017" Is this the same painting presented by Leonid Slutsky from Russia which ESI had written about already in January 2013 A Russian gift for Pedro Agramunt As of this moment the trial on charges of corruption against Volonte in Milan is still ongoing that the available documentary and oral evidence shows that Mr Iwiński when performing his duties as a rapporteur in the Monitoring Committee on Azerbaijan by way of a pre-prepared statement to be sent to the PACE Bureau on behalf of him and his co-rapporteur one of the key lobbyists for Azerbaijan in PACE." Current leader of EPP group in PACE (from Romania) Former PACE member and rapporteur on Azerbaijan "The evidence shows that Mr Goris and Mr Destexhe were in charge of ensuring the functioning of the EAEO [European Academy of Election Observation] Although there is conflicting information on the period and extent of the involvement of Mr Destexhe in the work of the EAEO the documentary evidence shows that the seat of the EAEO was registered at Mr Destexhe's address until September 2016 and that he co-signed a financial statement on behalf of the EAEO in December 2015 "Mr Lintner is the head of GEFDAB [Gesellschaft zur Förderung der deutsch-aserbaidschanischen Beziehungen] which was reportedly established in 2009 while Mr Lintner still held office in PACE The organisation is well known for having observed the presidential election in Azerbaijan in 2013 Mr Lintner has a company called "Line M-Trade" registered in Germany On the need to react to serious allegations of corruption allegations of corruption and fostering of interests should be taken seriously and properly investigated and sanctioned by the different COE authorities and bodies in accordance with their respective competences Any suspected instances of corruption and fostering of interests such as those alleged by Mr Arif Mammadov [Former Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe] and the COE and PACE officials Further reading: ESI newsletters on the Council of Europe Here we are to serve you with news right now quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis you can have full digital access to all news Proces du 13-November : ce que ces hommes opaques ont dans la tete Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit Blanditiis optio incidunt eum omnis ratione error temporibus iure porro esse Integer consectetur quam eget ipsum dictum accumsan Donec non lectus id risus rutrum ullamcorper sit amet vel nulla On 23 January 2013 a record 224 members of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) participated in a debate on Azerbaijan There have never been more members voting on any resolution in the history of PACE The vote was also historic because of its outcome: PACE rapporteur Christoph Straesser's resolution on political prisoners in Azerbaijan was defeated – 125 votes against 79 votes with 20 abstentions – sending a very strong signal of support to the authoritarian regime in Baku Representatives of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev's regime had long waged a campaign against Straesser who was appointed as rapporteur in March 2009 Azerbaijan refused to issue Straesser a visa to visit the country on a fact-finding mission Straesser was openly and repeatedly accused of being part of an anti-Azerbaijani lobbying effort The vote on 23 January 2013 was remarkable in terms of who voted with Azerbaijan and who voted with Straesser All 18 Russian members were present and sided with Azerbaijan 9 Italians and a majority of members from the United Kingdom (7) 11 German members from all political families supported Straesser's resolution Straesser was accused by his critics of the following things: Another disturbing twist in this debate was the fact that in addition to the vote on Straesser's resolution concurrent resolution on Azerbaijan had also been put on the table which was presented by its authors as a clear alternative – in contradiction no less – to the resolution drafted by Strasser co-rapporteur of the monitoring committee) told PACE: "I ask members to support the first report but I will vote against Mr Straesser's report for obvious reasons: it contradicts our report and encroaches on the authority of the Monitoring Committee." had called on the Azerbaijani authorities to reconsider the cases of 14 prisoners in Azerbaijan; interestingly just a few days after his report became public 13 of these individuals were amnestied by president Aliyev many having served long periods in prison already This allowed Agramunt to tell PACE in January 2013:  there is only one left and I have been promised that that individual will be released quickly I also have a commitment from the government that the nine that were free when I drew up the report will not be put back in prison." Agramunt then directly challenged Straesser's findings and so on – including cases of former ministers I do not consider these to be political prisoners." his methodology in establishing this assessment on his short trips to Baku since 2011 – where he and his colleague met mainly with representatives of the authorities both Russian and Azerbaijani speakers heaped praise on Agramunt's report (see excerpts below) Thierry Mariani from France even noted that Straesser "could not get a visa for Azerbaijan but the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee [i.e.: Agramunt] had no problems" … suggesting that it was in fact Straesser "I would advise Human Rights Watch representatives to thoroughly read the report of co-rapporteurs Pedro Agramunt and Joseph Debono Grech."[2] This is a remarkable conclusion after a striking debate that is likely to be remembered for many years and certain to stand as a reminder of just how successfully Azerbaijan has been able to capture and manipulate PACE Below are some of the most interesting excerpts from the debate that took place within the PACE hemicycle on 23 January. The full debate is on the website of PACE.[3] Jean-Claude Mignon (born in 1950) is a member of the French parliament from the Union for a Popular Movement He was elected PACE President in January 2012 and re-elected for a second term in January 2013 "We have produced a report that I think is well balanced and to which no one has seriously objected." a Spanish senator and businessman from Valencia has been the Monitoring Committee's co-rapporteur for Azerbaijan since 2010 He traveled to Azerbaijan as a PACE election observer in 2003 and was a member of the PACE mission to the constitutional referendum in Azerbaijan in March 2009 "The draft report, which was adopted at the December 2012 meeting of the Monitoring Committee in Paris with one minor amendment that was adopted by the Committee this afternoon We have produced a report that I think is well balanced and to which no one has seriously objected Mr Debono Grech and I are very happy with the report which is why we would like you strongly to support it It is the first for some five or six years on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan." "… Others who are clearly political prisoners are still in prison in Azerbaijan so we must get to grips with this issue …" I was appointed rapporteur for following up the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan The task has certainly not been straightforward but I will not talk about the reasons for that It might be asked why the committee is addressing Azerbaijan alone in this regard, and not other countries, too. I asked that question before working on the topic, but I quickly realised why it is the case. The title of our report is 'the follow-up to the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan' which serves to highlight that we have been working over the same ground since 2001 and have produced four texts on the subject There is an important political message that we must send The report stated at paragraph 11: 'In the light of the commitments entered into and the assurances given by the Azerbaijani authorities that the issue would be dealt with to the Assembly's satisfaction by the autumn 2004 session the Assembly cannot consider the issue of political prisoners to have been finally resolved' We in the Parliamentary Assembly must take our own commitments seriously We have committed ourselves to follow up the process we agreed on a definition of 'political prisoner' We do not want to pillory any country in particular and that definition applies to all 47 member states of the Council of Europe on the basis of information gained via co-operation with a number of Azerbaijani non-governmental organisations it is clear that this issue has not been addressed since our last report there was a presidential amnesty for more than 40 detainees 14 of whom appeared on the list I submitted but others who are clearly political prisoners are still in prison in Azerbaijan so we must get to grips with this issue yet again I hope we will then finally be able to conclude that the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan and we all have a responsibility to help to achieve it I hope we will have a constructive discussion and arrive at a positive result I appeal to members to vote in favour of the report." "We must make it clear that much remains to be done It is unacceptable for a rapporteur to be prevented from entering the country." is president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) "We have received information that many of the political prisoners on the list have been freed and further names need to be added to the list so we need to continue to follow-up this issue People must not be subjected to discrimination and thrown into prison merely for their political opinions Over the period in which the reports [Definition of Political Prisoner, Political Prisoner Follow Up, and the Honouring of Azerbaijan's Obligations] were being written Visas were refused to members of our Organisation who wanted to visit Azerbaijan to do this work and they were accused of being anti-Azerbaijan That is unacceptable; it is more than regrettable… We must make it clear that much remains to be done the rapporteur … passed judgment on the conclusions of his report before ever attempting to go to Azerbaijan non-governmental organisation reports and hearsay." is head of the UK delegation to PACE and President of the European Democrat Group in PACE (both since 2011) Walter repeatedly traveled to Azerbaijan as a member of PACE election observation missions (in 2005 He has been active in developing business ties between the two countries Azerbaijan has enjoyed probably no more than 20 years of what resembles democracy The Monitoring Committee's excellent report asks serious questions about elections freedom of assembly and freedom of association It also asks questions about political prisoners which cites Amnesty International's figures today there are eight political prisoners in Azerbaijan It is totally unacceptable to have political prisoners in any member state of the Council of Europe To the credit of the Monitoring Committee's two rapporteurs they and OSCE engaged with the Ministry of Justice in Azerbaijan and visited prisons and prisoners in Azerbaijan The European Democrat Group spent considerable time looking at both reports Even with our Azeri and Armenian colleagues present we decided that we would support wholeheartedly the Monitoring Committee's report but I am afraid that we decided that we would reject Mr Straesser's report on behalf of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights." "Some of our members were in favour of the report but no one called into question the reality of political prisoners." an MP from the Christian democratic "Union of the Centre" party from Lombardy is Chairman of the Group of the European People's Party "On the Monitoring Committee's report our rapporteurs have done excellent work and we congratulate them on that progress has been made but there are growing concerns in a number of regards such as the independence of the judiciary and the rights of association and assembly We have also seen measures to curb press freedoms There are political prisoners and people are deprived of their freedom for reasons of conscience There are cases of torture and abuse on the part of law enforcement agents … As I said, our members have a free vote on the second report Some of our members were in favour of the report released and then re-arrested shortly afterwards." Von Cramon-Taubadel is known for her active involvement in the South Caucasus region She has been an outspoken critic of human rights violations in Azerbaijan "Mr Straesser has done no more and no less than what he was requested to do regarding the criteria for political prisoners which is why the Assembly is obliged to work on behalf of the people in that situation … The problem of political imprisonment in Azerbaijan has still not been solved Fourteen people on the list have indeed been released as were 21 people between June and December 2012 but the problem is that those releases are still pending Some of those people were released only because they had served their entire sentence an opposition politician died in prison in August The addendum on new cases shows that a revolving door policy is being used as a tactic to silence independent journalists released and then re-arrested shortly afterwards Everybody clearly knows that next time it could be them we are the watchdogs of human rights in the Council of Europe We have the right and the duty to point out violations of human rights." Azerbaijan will chair the Committee of Ministers that severely threatens the credibility of this Organisation." Lise Christoffersen (born in 1955) is a member of the Norwegian Parliament representing the Labour Party she serves as First Vice Chairperson of the Monitoring Committee our Secretary General spoke about member states that have problems fulfilling their obligations on human rights Some of them are willing to work on their problems he prescribed harder pressure from this Organisation Let me quote one phrase from each of the two reports: 'growing concern with regard to the rule of law and respect for human rights', and 'The issue of political prisoners is still not resolved'. I could give more statements from the reports about limitations on freedom of expression and of assembly the fact that there is no separation of powers fabricated charges against human rights activists and journalists the systematic detention of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience impunity for abusers and uninvestigated murders … that severely threatens the credibility of this Organisation the Azerbaijani authorities really ought carefully to think through whether they will be able to bear scrutiny in that situation." "I shall vote unreservedly for the first report but that is not compatible with voting in favour of the other report Jean-Marie Bockel (born in 1950) first joined PACE in 1999 – 2002 He returned in 2012 as a full representative and a member of PACE's European People's Party He sits on the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy After his second assignment to PACE in 2007 he was appointed France's Secretary of State for Defence and Veterans in 2008 and later Secretary of State for Justice and Freedom He is a founding member of France's Modern Left party "I will not give into the temptation to draw too black a picture of the country because I am sure that it will move closer to the democratic ideal in years to come The country's economic potential will promote aspirations towards democracy and be a driver of political change … Looking back over the past 10 years with the population benefiting from greater prosperity which can only foster the emergence of democracy … We should not stigmatise the country but welcome its efforts We should not forget Azerbaijan's specific geopolitical position Although the situation could be improved in many respects we would do well to look at what is working effectively in there In the light of all those matters, I shall vote unreservedly for the first report, but that is not compatible with voting in favour of the other report "The Assembly should not tolerate our rapporteurs being denied access to a country." Marina Schuster (born in 1975) is a member of the German Bundestag from the liberal Free Democratic Party As a member of the Bundestag's Commission for Human Rights Schuster has been actively following the situation with human rights and democracy in Eastern Partnership countries is First Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and is a member of the Monitoring Committee "The findings of the Monitoring Committee's report give rise to concern There is a lack of independence of the judiciary Page 27 details disturbing reports from NGOs of torture freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and journalists and opposition politicians are intimidated at every turn Turning to the second report people are asking why there is a report on the situation of political prisoners in Azerbaijan but not about the situation of political prisoners in other countries The reason is simple: the Assembly decided to commission Mr Straesser to produce a report on the situation of political prisoners in Azerbaijan … Mr Straesser could not even visit Azerbaijan The Assembly should not tolerate our rapporteurs being denied access to a country as it is essential to be able to see the situation on the ground and we should adopt both draft resolutions which concern our core job in the Council of Europe." "I am convinced that Azerbaijan will continue to meet its commitments and obligations." is currently a member of the Polish Sejm representing the Democratic Left Alliance where he sits on the Monitoring Committee and is one of the Vice Chairpersons of the Socialist Group Iwinski has traveled to Azerbaijan on numerous occasions Iwinski presented a report on the 2010 Azerbaijani parliamentary elections to the Assembly which was significantly less critical of the elections than the findings of the OSCE/ODIHR observers "Since its accession to the Council of Europe 12 years ago the most populous South Caucasian country has undergone important changes … Azerbaijan has achieved a lot in the fields of education social welfare and in fighting poverty and terrorism there are still many shortcomings and deficiencies including in the functioning of a pluralist democracy and a multi-party system and in the freedoms of expression all those issues are presented in a holistic and balanced manner … I am convinced that Azerbaijan will continue to meet its commitments and obligations I hope that the presidential elections in the autumn will be credible and will contribute to further co-operation with our Organisation." "Azerbaijan is still a state under authoritarian rule …" Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (born in 1951) has been a member of the Swedish Parliament from the Moderate Party since 1995 She joined PACE in 2007 and currently heads the Swedish delegation to PACE She is a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights She served as a PACE election observer during the November 2010 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan she has led efforts to introduce tighter regulations of conflicts of interests for PACE election observers "Corruption; torture; no independent judiciary; impunity; political prisoners; restriction of the freedoms of assembly association and expression; no respect for human rights democracy or the rule of law; no separation of power – I could go on Azerbaijan is still a state under authoritarian rule … I hope that the two reports will also make a difference for the citizens of Azerbaijan Those in power seem to lack the political will to comply with the obligations and commitments that they signed when they entered the Council of Europe." After learning the lessons of the Council of Europe "I ask you to support the report of Mr Agramunt and Mr Debono Grech on the monitoring of Azerbaijan There has been much criticism of Azerbaijan we should compare Azerbaijan today with Azerbaijan 10 years ago Human rights are upheld in Azerbaijan … On the other report that we are discussing I support Mr Straesser and have all due respect for him the definition of a political prisoner that we are offered is very vague and approximate We must consider how things stand for political prisoners throughout the Council of Europe area We must see what the European Court of Human Rights says because it is one of the most authoritative bodies in international law in Europe Why can we not ask the Court to give us a definition of a political prisoner those who deal in human organs and those who deal drugs to fund terrorism can all announce themselves to be political prisoners Criminal elements declaring themselves political prisoners has happened in the Council of Europe "The Council of Europe was created for countries Samad Seyidov (born in 1964) is a member of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party He has been a member of PACE since 2001 and currently heads the Azerbaijani delegation to the Assembly He is also a member of the PACE Monitoring Committee "The Council of Europe was created for countries, not against them. How can we vote for Mr Straesser's report if we can see in it facts that are In the list presented by Mr Straesser you can find the names of people who do not exist and 10 are subject to the procedures of the Court … Our only option is to vote in favour of the Monitoring Committee report but not in favour of the report presented by Mr Straesser I hope that we will find the courage to understand that the credibility of our values In Mr Straesser's report you can find the credibility of the Organisation but I am thinking about the values of the family of Europe." "Do not forget that enough time is needed during all these stages to be able to follow the prescriptions of the Council of Europe." Gaudi Nagy (born in 1971) is a member of Hungary's nationalist Jobbik Movement for a better Hungary where he has served on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights having earned his degree from Eovtos Lorand University in 1995 I feel that it is important to be precise in this field If we are to charge any member state on this issue such reports and allegations should be well established… There are some fields where Azerbaijan has to improve to reach the standards of the Council of Europe But do not forget that time enough is needed during all these stages to be able to follow the prescriptions of the Council of Europe A great number of states are not able to produce the maximum standards that are prescribed by the Council of Europe On the other report the data produced by Mr Straesser have been heavily debated It would be good to review all the data relating to political prisoners and when a report highlights this problem they should be indisputably established That is why this second report should not be adopted." "It has been said that the rapporteur could not get a visa for Azerbaijan but the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee had no problems." Thierry Mariani (born in1958) is one of the co-founders of the political movement "The Popular Right" within the UMP party in France and a former French minister for transport Mariani is currently a deputy representing the 11th constituency of French citizens abroad (those who reside in Asia He is Chairman of the NGO "L'Eurasie – les nouveaux horizons," a small organization that in 2010 co-organized an event with an NGO led by Elkhan Suleymanov (who lead the campaign against Straesser in PACE) on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan Mariani's NGO is one of the founding members of the "European Academy for Election Observation," a group which issued a positive assessment of the 2010 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan Mariani himelf was an OSCE Parliamentary Assembly observer at those elections Mariani has repeatedly spoken alongside Mehriban Aliyeva at several Azerbaijani-organized events in France He allows no credit for the clear progress that has been achieved by this country … I know that an extra list was added yesterday and that brings the list up to date as of December which is welcome in respect of figures that are difficult to accept between these figures and those of Amnesty International which are mentioned in the Monitoring Committee's report He says that the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan provided acceptable replies It has been said that the rapporteur could not get a visa for Azerbaijan but the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee had no problems they stressed the high quality of their contacts and of the responses from the Azerbaijani authorities but will vote against Mr Straesser's report." "Mr Straesser's report…goes into great detail about the definition of a political prisoner and the methodology of his report McNamara (born in 1974) first served in PACE as a substitute for 2011 but was assigned as a full representative in 2012 He is a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Human Rights "Previous speakers expressed the fear that, as a result of Mr Straesser's report terrorists could claim to be political prisoners but a close reading of the report would do a lot to dispel that fear He makes it clear that the definition of a political prisoner adopted for the report is based on the definition and criteria used by the three independent experts appointed by the Committee of Ministers on 31 January 2001 … I particularly draw members' attention to paragraph 2.5 of Mr Straesser's report where he goes into great detail about the definition of a political prisoner and the methodology of his report He points out that an 'allegation that a person is a 'political prisoner' must be supported by prime facie evidence; it is then for the detaining State to prove that the detention is in full conformity with requirements of the Convention as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights in so far as the merits are concerned that the requirements of proportionality and non-discrimination have been respected and that the deprivation of liberty is the result of fair proceedings.' In the great majority of cases the detaining state would be able to meet those criteria." "This issue has been on the Assembly's agenda since 2001 which is a clear sign that our policy is not working and only leading to fruitless political debate." Disli (born in 1958) is a member of Turkey's Justice and Development Party and has served as a member of its PACE delegation since 2011 He is a member of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee and the sub-committee on Media and Information Society we are again debating political prisoners in Azerbaijan we have been obsessed with the political prisoners who might even though the Assembly knows that many other countries have political prisoners This issue has been on the Assembly's agenda since 2001 "If we vote for Mr Straesser's report – goodness me This report will need to be duplicated time after time." Michael Hancock (born in 1946) is a British Liberal Democrat He has been a member of PACE since 1997 and sits on the Monitoring Committee Hancock served as a PACE election observer in Azerbaijan in 2008 and 2010 praising the conduct of the votes both times Hancock has consistently supported Azerbaijan in parliamentary debates he signed a statement praising Azerbaijan's "speedy improvement towards democratisation and legal state-building." Hancock is one of the Vice Chairs of the Azerbaijan All-Party Parliamentary Group in the UK "If we are not careful, we risk setting an undesirable precedent. To have a monitoring report on a country and then to take out of it a specific topic and make it the subject of a separate report Will all those countries listed on Human Rights Watch's website – including Albania all of which are members here – be subjected to the same scrutiny from a distance and through non-governmental organisations and websites What can we do today? The Monitoring Committee report is much harder hitting than many monitoring reports on other countries. It pulls no punches and goes into detail on many issues, far in excess of what we have done in other countries. Today, we risk putting Azerbaijan in double jeopardy. If we vote for Mr Straesser's report – goodness me This report will need to be duplicated time after time because otherwise Azerbaijan and the next country will feel it cannot be right and it should not be tolerated in the Assembly." "If you do not want to endorse terrorists and Islamists Conde (born in 1965) from the Spanish conservative Popular Party has been a member of PACE since 2009 where he is the third vice-chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights In the 1990s he was the youngest ever mayor of Toledo "With all due respect to our colleague, Mr Straesser's list includes several men who can in no way be considered political prisoners and the experts excluded them on that account Case Nos. 71 and 73 in the report were both, in the words of the rapporteur in paragraph 178, 'convicted of violent, "non-political" crimes, including the premeditated murder of a prosecutor.' Similarly, the men in Case Nos. 66, 79 and 85 were convicted for participation in a violent, premeditated murder, and the experts also deny them the status of political prisoners.[6] A killer – a murderer – is not According to the resolution by the Assembly last October If you want to send a serious warning to Azerbaijan about the respect of human rights, vote for the report of Mr Agramunt and Mr Debono Grech If you do not want to endorse terrorists and Islamists "Does Mr Straesser not think it is dangerous to encourage the spread of fundamentalism in what is a complex region?" first joined PACE as a substitute from 2001 – 2008 He has been a member of the European People's Party since 2001 and currently sits on the Committee for the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by member states he is a member of the People of Freedom Party Mr Straesser considers members of radical Islamic groups who have been sentenced for mounting a coup to be political prisoners and has called for their immediate release has publicly said he wants to introduce Sharia Mr Straesser says he is a political prisoner yet says at paragraph 100 that he and eight other members of his party had been caught in possession of Kalashnikovs Does Mr Straesser not think it is dangerous to encourage the spread of fundamentalism in what is a complex region The Council of Europe's purpose is to uphold democracy and secularism in our member states I am opposed to the rapporteur's position on this important issue It addresses a delicate topic in a dangerous way "I am new here and do not really understand why we should have two reports." Bakoyannis (born in 1954) was first a member of PACE from 2000 – 2003 before returning for a short period in 2010 She is a member of PACE's Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy as well as the Committee on Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States she served as Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs and was co-chairperson-in-office for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe "I am new here and do not really understand why we should have two reports. I do not understand why the decision was taken, but now we have two reports. Mr Agramunt and his colleague did a very good job and their report for the Monitoring Committee is well balanced Unfortunately, because of the second report we have not spoken about the essence of the first report the justice system and everything that has to be improved in Azerbaijan but we have lost sight of that because we have spoken only about political prisoners I will take just have a minute to tell you my personal story This was at the time of the Greek dictatorship and about 10 others told them to execute him The former committed the crime; the latter did not commit the crime and they are now applying to be named as political prisoners but it is a country where women can walk around where there is religious freedom and where its neighbours do not like it to be like that… I therefore think that we should stick to and vote for the Monitoring Committee's report." I find the use of the term 'political prisoner' vis-à-vis a country that is fully exercising legal instruments absurd and unacceptable." Ali Huseynli (born in 1968) is an MP from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party "I thank the co-rapporteurs for their balanced report, but I want to say a few words about the second report I find the use of the term 'political prisoner' vis-à-vis a country that is fully exercising legal instruments absurd and unacceptable The serious mistakes and deliberate distortion of facts in the report once more confirm our concerns about the biased approach demonstrated by the rapporteur I kindly ask Mr Straesser to show the true I call colleagues to vote against the second report." "[The political prisoner] problem has not been solved by [recent] or by earlier amnesties bloggers and peaceful demonstrators currently sit in prison." Wohlwend (born in 1952) first served in PACE from 1994 – 1997 as a substitute She serves on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights as well as the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States she is in the European People's Party group She is a member of Liechenstein's Progressive Citizen's Party "In recent days I have heard time and again that the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan has been resolved and that at the end of December the president gave an amnesty to the persons who figure in the report but in fact the problem has not been solved by that or by earlier amnesties bloggers and peaceful demonstrators currently sit in prison… the submissive legal system picks on them with varying degrees of severity and then shortly afterwards put in prison again The issue of political prisoners will only be resolved once we put an end to the revolving door policy I am very disappointed that some of my group colleagues have quoted selectively from the report of our colleague Mr Straesser in order to slant the debate." "Many of the countries represented here have pretty bad human rights records Let those without sin throw the first stone Very few of the countries here could throw the first stone." Leyden (born in 1945) has been a member of Ireland's PACE delegation starting in 1992 – 1993 He is a member of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States In PACE he sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats of Europe and has served as vice-chairman since 1997 "This is one of the most interesting debates that has been held in the Assembly for some time I commend the Monitoring Committee, of which I am a member, on its report I fully support the views of Mr Debono Grech and Mr Agramunt on the report I am very impressed that our friends from Azerbaijan are prepared to go along with the report without major amendments It is vital that the Monitoring Committee continue to monitor Azerbaijan and ensure that the report is fully implemented by the Government of Azerbaijan I suppose I am one of the few people here who have never been in Azerbaijan, but if I do go there, I intend to meet some of these political prisoners and find out for myself the truth of Mr Straesser's report I have never come across a parallel report before The fact that this other report is being debated undermines the strength of the Monitoring Committee's report endorse and implement the monitoring report Many of the countries represented here have pretty bad human rights records Very few of the countries here could throw the first stone because many of them have pretty poor records in this regard I hope that the vote will go in favour of the report by the Monitoring Committee and that the other report will be rejected." "There are no facts at hand about the circumstances of the arrests or the motivation of the state and there are no known violations of the rights of these people who have been subjected to the rigour of the law." Valentino (born in 1945) has been in Italy's delegation to PACE since 2006 where he sits with the European Democrat Group He sits on the Committee for Legal Affairs and Human Rights he represents the National Alliance as Senator and sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee "I appreciated the report by the Monitoring Committee which welcomes the efforts of a young democracy to explore democracy and tighten up its democratic rules All that is happening in a tense geopolitical context … The criticisms in the Straesser report are rather unfounded It does not justify why it is critical and does not analyse the situation … There are no facts at hand about the circumstances of the arrests or the motivation of the state and there are no known violations of the rights of these people who have been subjected to the rigour of the law The Straesser report is emotive but lacks facts and certainties I am therefore critical of it and will vote against it whereas I commend the Monitoring Committee report to the Assembly." "These matters always depend on the power and influence of the country concerned." Mateu Pi (born in 1966) has been a member of PACE since 2011 when she is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe She sits on the Committee for Legal Affairs and Human Rights and on the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy She is a member of Andorra's Liberal Party and has served her country as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 – 2009 She has also held ambassadorships to France "It is difficult to understand why we need the second report, given that the Monitoring Committee's report covers political prisoners alongside other subjects such as society and religion … To take the kind of overview that Mr Straesser calls for would be to take the view that there may be political prisoners in all of our countries I do not think that anybody will ever admit to that These matters always depend on the power and influence of the country concerned It would be wonderful for the citizens of the countries concerned if that changed I will support the Monitoring Committee's report but cannot support Mr Straesser's report." "If the one person who had gone off for a cup of coffee had come back in time we would not have had the current definition of political prisoners." Alexander Sidyakin (born in 1977) is a member of the ruling United Russia party He joined PACE in 2012 and currently sits on the Committee for Legal Affairs and Human Rights Sidyakin is one of the initiators of the widely criticized law adopted in June 2012 which drastically (over 100-fold) increased financial penalties for participating in unauthorized protests A similar law was adopted in Azerbaijan in November 2012 "All members will remember that not long ago, we had an even vote with 89 members for and 89 against [the definition of 'political prisoner.'] If the one person who had gone off for a cup of coffee had come back in time we would not have had the current definition of political prisoners … A member of the opposition recently said that his wife had left home and he could not find her dismembered her and put the pieces on the balcony Many people in the opposition said that that was a political arrest Does that mean that somebody who supports the government and votes for it cannot be a political prisoner but an opponent of the government obviously is a political prisoner I support the report of the Monitoring Committee, but do not think that we should support the report on political prisoners." noting that everyone on the list of speakers had a chance to take the floor gives the word to the rapporteurs to react to the debate but the people who are in prison who are not being released." which marks the end of a very long process I am pleased that we have had a constructive debate but some of the contributions and assessments were far removed from my remit I ask the many speakers who criticised how I dealt with Azerbaijan where the report came from It came from the fact that this Parliamentary Assembly can trust me with that remit A topic is being opened up that has already been settled within this Assembly: the topic of defining political prisoners in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights … my experience is that there has been co-operation within the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe In 2010 I was given the remit to carry out a fact-finding mission in Azerbaijan I was still waiting for an invitation I contacted the Azerbaijani embassy in Germany to get a visa but the request was turned down on the ground that there was no need for a discussion on political prisoners in Azerbaijan I say that to explain to you clearly that we are hearing some strange arguments and accusations I was prevented from travelling to that country and some people's arguments are far removed from the actual situation … Colleagues such as Mr Hancock have said that Amnesty International says that everything is okay regarding prisoners of conscience Colleagues should look at the memorandum that has been signed by a plethora of human rights organisations I understand what our colleague was saying about terrorism but I would like you to look at the exact drafting of the report where the different points that you made are clearly characterised There are prisoners whom I do not consider political prisoners You have said exactly the opposite of what is in my report and I do not think that we can accept that in this Chamber No one in this Chamber will say that someone who uses violence or introduces Sharia Law could be considered a political prisoner There is another side to the story – the rule of law Even someone accused of terrorism is entitled to the rule of law due process and full compliance with human rights That what we in the Parliamentary Assembly are here to tackle I have done no more and no less than to point that out in the report … I want finally to make some important personal remarks … We need to give thought to what will happen as a result of our decisions we feel a sense of triumph; if it is negative but I will not feel any sense of triumph if that is the case to have no more discussion on this matter in Azerbaijan There should not be feelings of triumph or disappointment in the Chamber but the people who are in prison who are not being released Let me say three names that we talk about: Yulia Tymoshenko It is a very good thing that we talk about them but please let us talk about people who are languishing in prison whose names are not known and I would like you to take that on board." we have to keep in mind that they have come a long way." Joseph Debono Grech (born in 1939) is a member of Malta's Labour Party Debono Grech is currently a member of the Monitoring Committee he was appointed the committee's co-rapporteur for Azerbaijan competing against Lise Christoffersen (Norway) Debono Grech also was a PACE election observer in Azerbaijan in November 2010 "The Council of Europe has come a long way since it was founded I have been a member of parliament for the last 40 years I was thrown in prison by the British Government when we were fighting for independence so I know what a political prisoner really is What we have done is not entirely my work or Mr Agramunt's The work was started years ago in Azerbaijan … The Council of Europe has achieved a lot, through what its rapporteurs have done There are still prisoners of conscience or political prisoners This cannot be dealt with by doing this or doing that and by criticising everybody Our job is to help these people – to help the new democracies we have to keep in mind that they have come a long way but with everybody's help – the Council of Europe and all its members – between us in co-operation with the Committee of Ministers and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan we will find that the time will come when Azerbaijan will be a real democracy." The report mentions a number of issues that we have not been able to analyse in depth it is not in a worse situation than other countries that are members of the Council of Europe especially remembering that it is in a complex geographical situation On political prisoners, for obvious reasons – it contradicts what we say in our report about political prisoners – I regret that I cannot support Mr Straesser's report We established that there are 14 people in prisons and nine that had already been released when the report was drawn up That figure is more than was defined by Amnesty I also have a commitment from the government that the nine that were free when I drew up the report will not be put back in prison I do not consider these to be political prisoners … Why do we speak only of political prisoners in Azerbaijan Armenia and other countries that have them I ask members to support the first report "This is the first time I have known a rapporteur to disagree with a report by a colleague." "I have been a member for almost 20 years, and this is the first time I have known a rapporteur to disagree with a report by a colleague PACE President Mignon closes the debate and calls speakers on five tabled amendments to the draft resolution 'It regrets that the Azerbaijani authorities prevented the Rapporteur from carrying out a fact-finding visit to Azerbaidjan which had been duly authorised by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.'" about to ask our rapporteurs to do a job and then remain silent when obstacles are put in their way that prevent them from carrying out that task place on our own work and that which we task others to do "Azerbaijan never said that we were not ready to accept That is why I am against the amendment completely." Chope (born in 1947) has been a member in PACE since 2005 serving as the treasurer for the European Democrat Group He is the Chairperson of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee Chope was elected in 1997 as Member of Parliament for the Christchuch Conservatives "We will now proceed to vote on the whole of the draft resolution contained in Document 13079 "Follow up to the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan" This was the committee that gave Straesser his mandate Nearly twice as many committee members voted in support of Azerbaijan [1] http://en.trend.az/news/politics/2112227.html [2] http://en.trend.az/news/politics/2112227.html [3] http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/Records/2013/E/1301231530E.htm [4] http://www.peacefond.ru/structure/chairman/?id=31 [6] Note: All of the individuals referred to by Conde (cases 66 79 and 85 were in any case NOT considered to be "presumed poltical prisoners" in the report of Christoph Straesser [7] Countries are ranked by their net total number of delegates who voted in favour of Azerbiajan [8] Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Plenary Sessions and Standing Committees Webpage, Accessed on 6 February 2013 at: http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Votes/BDVotesParticipants_EN.asp?VoteID=34435&DocID=14409 ACN | Barcelona toffee of all kinds…these are some of the new nougat flavours released for the holiday season by the Torrons Vicens sweet company other firms like Torrons Alemany are sticking with the “classic” well-loved version of the delicacy awarded two-stars at the Great Taste Awards Torrons Vicens’ new flavours are a “radical change,” one that nougat-maker Alber Lluch praised very highly indeed while elaborated with the help of renowned world-class Catalan chef Albert Adrià One is made with sesame seed and seaweed praline while the other is prepared with Matcha tea praline and yuzu gumdrops The eastern-inspired flavor is no accident – nor is it that much of a gamble Lluch explained that the company is pushing exports to Asia which is also one of their “strongest” markets one which also demands “personalized products aimed at their market.” Torrons Vicens has opened seats in both Korea and Japan The other four new additions by the company are exclusive creations by master nougat-maker Àngel Velasco There’s even a variety that transforms the almond-toffee mixture into a soufflé is choosing a more classic variety for their holidays: the white-colored imperial hard nougat which this year also received two stars from the so-called gourmet food Oscars: the Great Taste Awards They’re planning on releasing some 70 tons of nougat this season Nougat, a confection made from sugar or honey, nuts, whipped egg whites, gets its name from the Occitan word – a language not too dissimilar to Catalan – ‘pan nogat,’ roughly translated as ‘nut bread.’  Every year, the sweet is celebrated at the Agramunt Nougat fair dedicated to the delicacy – next year it will have been held for over 3 decades.  Get the day's biggest stories right to your phone This bulletin examines the gender differences among a recent group of PWID surveyed in Australia in 2019 on a series of survey questions related to injecting risk behaviours UNSW respectfully acknowledges the Bidjigal clan of the Dharawal Nation on whose unceded lands we are privileged to learn and recognise the broader Nations with whom we walk together UNSW acknowledges the enduring connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to culture The Uluru Statement arrested in February 2013) – Khadija Ismailova (journalist Can basic international norms be undermined by corruption Can international politics be fundamentally reshaped by the personal greed of politicians These are among the most important questions in global politics today guardian of the European Convention of Human Rights and the leading intergovernmental human rights institution in the world have shown how easy it is to undermine core human rights standards and bend a formerly proud institution to its will They have done so in close cooperation with Russia and with the active support of elected politicians from across Europe including from some of its oldest democracies they filled a rolodex with names of politicians across the continent who have something to hide and can be blackmailed in the future Nobody should have illusions that these methods are restricted to the Council of Europe Nobody should assume that it is only Azerbaijan that is exploiting the greed of politicians And it is not only the massive corruption that should worry us Azerbaijan's actions have been met with almost complete silence from national parliaments Human rights NGOs often feel that corruption of human rights institutions is not their primary concern Serious media struggle to tell a gripping story about the internal politics of international institutions it should not be hard: what we witness in Europe today is a methodical assault on human rights and the institutions set up to protect them – an epic struggle of values and a steady erosion of basic norms and the effort to take back captured institutions is still waiting for politicians to lead it In 2012 ESI published "Caviar Diplomacy – How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe" to sound an alarm The report was covered by international media and the term "caviar diplomacy" began to be widely used Some concerned officials in the Council of Europe reached out to us to confirm that things were The reaction of Azerbaijani officials was neither alarm nor outrage one senior diplomat told ESI later: "There was a feeling at the time that we can buy anything." Seeing their illicit efforts described without consequence only added to their sense of impunity given in cash or transferred via anonymous companies Azerbaijani politicians attacked anyone who drew attention to their activities a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) wrote an open letter to the Council of Europe's Secretary General complaining that Jagland had referred indirectly to the ESI report in a press conference "The Secretary General of the Council of Europe used some regretful [he probably meant regrettable] expressions when answering the question of a journalist during a press conference organized by him on October 4th including 'Azerbaijani caviar is a threat to the independence of PACE' 'If it is true that the members of the Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE bribed their colleagues with black caviar For as long as the only cost of corruption in the Council of Europe was the institution's failure to speak out about the imprisonment of Azerbaijani journalists most leaders of European governments felt that it was not a matter of deep concern the Council of Europe is useless." Others would add: "But what did you expect?" Caviar a dynastic family in Baku: it all seemed just an exotic story about a small and distant country capturing an institution without real power Yet the failure in Strasbourg to hold the line on core European values has now come to haunt European politics Its consequences can be seen in the growing confidence of autocrats the increasing ruthlessness of their methods and the widespread retreat of liberal politics The ease with which democratic institutions and safeguards can be undermined has emerged as a fundamental threat to European democracy When ESI published "Caviar Diplomacy" on 24 May 2012 there was one city in Europe where the report was read with particular interest: Strasbourg It described a reality familiar to many working there the year Azerbaijan joined the organisation Once the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was completed in 2005 and Azerbaijan's state coffers were awash in oil revenues As Azerbaijani sources told ESI at the time Baku had developed a strategy of ensuring its influence: "Many deputies are regularly invited to Azerbaijan and generously paid. In a normal year, at least 30 to 40 would be invited, some of them repeatedly. People are invited to conferences, events, sometimes for summer vacations. These are real vacations and there are many expensive gifts. Gifts are mostly expensive silk carpets, gold and silver items, drinks, caviar and money."[6] Secretary of the European People's Party (EPP) group in PACE She expressed her alarm that "this Azeri lobby is getting out of hand." Volonte wrote back to say that he had read the report He added that Russian gas interests or the Armenian lobby might have been behind the report How could anybody seriously believe that Azerbaijan had set out to silence criticism in PACE Only one month before the ESI report was published he had travelled on a private trip to Baku to negotiate with the regime what services he could offer he arrived in Baku to meet with Elkhan Suleymanov Suleymanov's collaborator and "envelope carrier" as one Azerbaijani described his role at the time (Mammadov became a full member of PACE in January 2016) Volonte presented his ideas how to boost Azerbaijan's image in advance of its presidency of the Council's Committee of Ministers in May 2014 His cosy relationship with the regime began during an earlier trip in July 2011 Volonte sent an effusive note to Suleymanov:  Thanks to you I have discovered a very interesting country your gifts are very tasty and very precious!!!" he was one of Italy's full-time representatives in PACE He remained an Italian parliamentarian until 2013 complaining about the behavior of senior Azerbaijani officials who "did not even greet me I looked like a fool in front of [Archbishop Salvatore Rino] Fisichella … I do not understand the reason for this pointless humiliation … There will be consequences for these official and political actions … They don't consider me as a friend." Addressing Volonte as his "dearest friend" "I am really saddened by these news … I beg you to accept my apologies for all this I understand very well that words alone cannot compensate for this offence I have developed all relationships according to your proposal and efforts I ensure you that I will inform the leadership and I will let you know as soon as possible Volonte composed two documents with instructions for Muslum Mammadov One included bank details of Volonte's personal foundation – called Novae Terrae (New Lands) – and a demand for €100,000 It also referred to a monthly stipend of €30,000 for Volonte to be paid half in cash "in €50 and €100 banknotes" and half through transfers to a bank account of the company LGV A second document referred to €250,000 to be transferred to LGV registered in Milan under the name of Volonte's wife Volonte had urged his accountant to set up this company (with his initials Luca Giuseppe Volonte) as quickly as possible for the purpose of receiving money from Baku the first transfer of €100,000 was made to the bank account of Novae Terrae Foundation another transfer of €220,000 was made to the bank account of LGV The money came from two companies – Metastar Invest a chain of volcanic islands and coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean – and reached Italy via two banks in Estonia and Latvia The purpose of the first transfer was described as "Fir consultinq Service" (sic) This path was chosen to conceal the fact that these were payments from one PACE member (Elkhan Sulyemanov) to another (Luca Volonte) Elkhan Suleymanov has long been a key player in Azerbaijan's advocacy efforts in the Council of Europe He became a substitute member of PACE in January 2011 The former secondary school teacher and culture ministry official in Soviet Azerbaijan had led the Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan (ACSDA) since 2005 This association quickly became a key instrument of caviar diplomacy organising conferences and inviting European politicians to Baku Strasser applied three times for a visa to go to Azerbaijan and carry out his mandate In an unprecedented snub of PACE monitoring Suleymanov began to call on Volonte for his campaign against Strasser he sent him "files concerning the Strasser situation." On 19 June 2012 Mammadov sent Volonte two reports drafted by Strasser: "The definition of political prisoners" and "Follow-up on the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan." Mammadov wrote: "Dear friend Muslum." The effort to build a coalition among PACE members against Strasser gained momentum a dramatic vote took place in PACE on the definition of "political prisoners." In a surprising upset for Strasser a majority of the members of the legal committee which had appointed him in 2009 and approved his definition of political prisoners twice before now voted for an amendment to his resolution promoted strongly by Azerbaijan and its apologists "The Parliamentary Assembly confirms that the interpretation and application of any criteria defining a political prisoner are the exclusive competence of the European Court of Human Rights, which is the only authority to assess violations of fundamental rights and freedoms."[12] In the plenary debate that followed Strasser stood his ground "I oppose the view advocated by some that the Parliamentary Assembly should refrain from talking about the matter on the grounds that it is more properly within the remit of the European Court of Human Rights If this position were adopted members might as well go home." His argument prevailed: the amendment was narrowly defeated and his proposed definition of political prisoners adopted He then turned his full attention to the vote on political prisoners in Azerbaijan a conservative Spanish senator and businessman from Valencia at the time serving as rapporteur on Azerbaijan for the Monitoring Committee: "… your new chapter should be focused on the Strasser Report my suggestion is that you should convince Mr Del Bono [apparently referring to Joseph Debono Grech the Maltese member of the socialist political group] to present and discuss this specific chapter in the "Monitoring Meeting" in order to reveal the division within the Socialist Group!!!" Volonte knew that Pedro Agramunt was a crucial player. Few PACE members had travelled to Azerbaijan as often as Agramunt, who went there as PACE election observer in 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2013 and consistently defended Baku's human rights record.[13] Volonte suggested a lobbying strategy to Muslum Mammadov: "We need to name a lot of friends during the debate and nominate one person for each of our political groups: it would be useful if you could suggest to [Luigi] Vitali and/or to the ex-Minister of Greece to nominate themselves for the EPP [Michael] Hancock and Bob [Robert Walter] for EDG Jordi Xucla Costa or some others for the Liberals If their group has decided for a "free vote" they need to stress their opinion in favour of Pedro and consequently Jordi Xucla was a Spanish MP who later became chairperson of the ALDE group this time worried about attendance at an EPP dinner on 20 January on the eve of the PACE vote on political prisoners: "I told Pedro [Agramunt] and [Luigi] Vitali that if you know others invite them to come." He suggested that Mammadov ensure that German PACE member Axel Fischer from the CDU attended the EPP dinner The debate on 23 January turned into a humiliation of Strasser. Tadeusz Iwinski stated in his speech: "I am convinced that Azerbaijan will continue to meet its commitments and obligations."[16] Michael Hancock commented on Strasser's report: that Baku had refused three visa applications "Sadly, the rapporteur for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Mr Strasser … passed judgment on the conclusions of his report before ever attempting to go to Azerbaijan. He based his report on blogs, non-governmental organisation reports and hearsay."[18] Pedro Agramunt also came out strongly against Strasser arguing that there simply was no problem with political prisoners in Azerbaijan: I also have a commitment from the government that the nine who were free when I drew up the report will not be put back in prison." Agramunt directly challenged Strasser's findings Following this success of Suleymanov's diplomacy Volonte became nervous that his role might be overlooked he wrote to his accountant: "Did you talk with Muslum They will make one last transfer before 31 January." He proposed to Sulyemanov another visit to Baku in February I would need to confirm the dates with our friend Pushkov I will let you know as soon as possible about the dates from him was then the head of the Russian delegation "Hi did you forget about me after your victory… J." Suleymanov responded and reassured Volonte: I will let you know as soon as I get the answer from my friend I am sure that I will still surprise you with the respect I have for you I follow this philosophy: it is bad not to have a friend No one should ever face any disasters in his life!" Volonte put forward a new motion for a resolution on political prisoners This appears to have been a means of putting pressure on Azerbaijan he sent an email to the head of the secretariat of PACE so I think that we should discuss the new version during the next meeting in Baku with Elkhan and Pushkov." many more transfers found their way to the accounts of his foundation and company he received more than €2 million from Azerbaijan a criminal procedure begins with a notizia di reato a notification written by the prosecutor when an alleged crime is reported the Public Prosecutor's office in Milan wrote a notizia di reato concerning Luca Volonte and two bank transfers that had aroused the suspicion of managers in the Banco di Credito Cooperativo of Barlassina a small town near Milan: €220,000 and €180,000 transferred to LGV in December 2012 and March 2013 the court in Milan informed Volonte in a letter that the prosecutor's investigation would be extended Volonte sent an email to three staff members of the Novae Terrae Foundation's office in Milan: Tuesday (full time) and Wednesday only morning I need you to make some update to a particular project so I can explain and you can start working right away two collaborators met Volonte in the office He asked them to draft a report to give details about LGV's work for Azerbaijan in 2012 and 2013 Volonte called one of them and asked "have you taken away everything" On 21 November 2016, the Italian public broadcaster RAI aired a documentary with the title "Caviar Democracy."[24]  It noted that ESI "wrote the first report on the Azerbaijani lobby in the Council of Europe." It talked to Christoph Strasser who explained that Luca Volonte "was instrumental in turning the conservative group against me" in January 2013 It also confronted Luca Volonte with the charges put against him RAI: Is it normal for money to pass via the Seychelles And so I never suspected that there might be some kind of … improper intent RAI: The Terrae Novae Foundation was paid on the basis of an agreement with Elkhan Suleymanov's NGO ACSDA The foundation drew up an agreement … a convention Volonte: Yes … that money was paid for advice which I personally provided to Suleymanov as president of this NGO RAI: I saw that you received transfers of 105,000 Euro per month you told the bank in Barlassina into which the money arrived from the Azeris that this money was for consulting services on agricultural issues because there was a quid pro quo agreement between me and the accountant … and … the invoice submitted to the bank is practically blank you list a consultation with a company called Jetfield RAI: An organisation that has its parent company in the Marshall Islands But didn't this make you suspect that you were dealing with Volonte: But I trusted the people with whom I had relationships Luca Volonte continued to hope that his political career in the Council of Europe could be continued as he also explained to RAI's Paolo Mondani: RAI: You told me that you wanted to become Commissioner for Human Rights Volonte: I'd like to get involved in international politics again but how could you become the Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe having taken money from a company owned by Suleymanov your company has only taken money from Azerbaijan how could you think you could retain any credibility as Commissioner for Human Rights if you're accepting money from a country that has essentially trampled these very rights underfoot Volonte: From a foundation that works to promote human rights in a country that tramples them underfoot RAI also interviewed other Italian parliamentarians with connections to Azerbaijan: Luigi Vitali (Forza Italia) Chairman of the Italy-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group and PACE member today Luca Volonte sent an e-mail to the lobbyist and Azeri deputy Muslum Mammadov "We need to appoint a lot of friends during the discussion … tell Vitali to get Iwinski and others to support the EPP … they need to emphasise their point of view … against Strasser" Did you know this Azeri politician named Elkhan Suleymanov he was the one through whom the money for Volonte was channelled Two million three hundred and ninety thousand euros RAI: Have you ever received a tin or two of caviar from Azerbaijan I have received a tin of caviar from that parliamentarian on the occasion of … before the Christmas holidays RAI: You limited yourself to a tin of caviar … RAI: In June 2015 in the Council of Europe you voted against an amendment calling for the release of political prisoners Divina: Because I refuse to get involved in these games Divina: Anyone who says that Azerbaijan is not a democracy I don't know who benefits most from these mutual relations And we are trying to help Azerbaijan grow and develop in the interests of our own country above all around 100 political prisoners are still in jail – that is people who are in prison because of their beliefs some of them could do with a month or so in prison Corruption on human rights issues in PACE is not a victimless crime While some corrupt members of PACE benefit citizens in Azerbaijan and elsewhere pay the price for the failure of Europe's human rights institutions Encouraged by this outcome and keen to get rid of prominent human rights defenders and dissidents the regime began to arrest even more people on bogus charges sentencing them to ever harsher prison terms also because of their connections with the Council of Europe These are just three of many critics of the Baku regime who ended up in jail following the January 2013 vote Human Rights Watch released a 100-page report on Azerbaijan "The Baku municipal authorities have implemented a blanket ban on all opposition demonstrations in the city center since early 2006. The authorities have broken up unsanctioned ones – often with violence – and have arrested and imprisoned peaceful protestors, organizers, and participants."[28] On 8 October 2013, on the eve of presidential elections in Azerbaijan, Amnesty International wrote: "With new arrests of civil society activists reported almost daily, it's hard to keep up with the sheer number and the speed at which dissenters are being persecuted at the moment."[29] Nothing has changed since a working group for a unified list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan presented its latest numbers: 119 political prisoners plus additional 25 cases to be monitored Pierrre-Henri Teitgen was an early member of the French resistance escaped and later became minister of justice in the De Gaulle government in 1945 He played a key role in the negotiations leading to the creation of the Council of Europe and the drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights Teitgen often warned about ignoring incipient threats to liberal democracy: "It is very rare that a democratic country passes under a totalitarian system in one day. There is nearly always a period during which liberty is gradually eroded."[30] In August 1949 Teitgen delivered a forceful speech arguing for a binding convention on human rights to be adopted by the Council of Europe Existing liberal regimes faced an imminent danger from Soviet subversion and urged member states of the Council of Europe to come together to protect democratic freedoms He ended his speech with a reference to the recent experience of Europeans: Teitgen's co-rapporteur, leading British lawyer and conservative politician David Maxwell-Fyfe, added that "countries with a similar outlook upon problems of human rights and long experience in enforcing human rights are in the most favourable position to set an example to nations not yet members of their circle."[32] This was the spirit in which the Council of Europe was created: a club of democracies led by politicians aware of Europe's autocratic past determined to affirm human rights against external and internal opponents It is high time to take back the Council of Europe A few comments for feedback[33] the Suleymanov-Volonte transactions need to be put on the agenda of the next plenary session of PACE in late January 2017 It is likely that PACE president Pedro Agramunt and some members of the PACE bureau will try to preempt any discussion One argument they already used – that it is inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation – is bogus: Luca Volonte has already publicly admitted that he accepted € 2.3 million from other members of PACE and that these transfers started on the eve of an important vote on human rights in Azerbaijan Rhetoric about draining the swamp of corruption in Strasbourg is not going to be enough Any serious reforms are certain to meet with stiff resistance from those who benefit from the status quo officials in the secretariat and among governments and parliaments of member states need to act decisively They also need to make clear what is at stake: caviar diplomacy is a mortal threat to the credibility of one of the world's most important human rights institutions to be further developed before the next plenary session of PACE in January 2017: ESI, "Caviar Diplomacy. How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe" ESI, "A Portrait of Deception. Monitoring Azerbaijan or why Pedro Agramunt should resign" ESI, "Showdown in Strasbourg. The political prisoner debate in October 2012", 15 February 2013 ESI, "Azerbaijan debacle: The PACE debate on 23 January 2013" ESI, "Disgraced. Azerbaijan and the end of election monitoring as we know it" Gerald Knaus, "The End of Shame" See also ESI's website section www.esiweb.org/caviardiplomacy [1]              In September 2015 a French documentary aired France 2 – Cash Investigation, "Mon président est en voyage d'affaires" – explores Caviar Diplomacy In the film the mayor of Cognac allows a French journalist to take the carpet given to him in Azerbaijan to an expert for valuation [2]              The latter sometimes led to pictures of foreign visitors in compromising positions another element of this KGB-style "diplomacy." [3]              News.Az, "Elkhan Suleymanov addresses Thorbjorn Jagland, Jean-Claude Mignon, PACE members" [5]              ESI research on this issue took place over many years and took us to Azerbaijan talking to dozens of people committed to restoring the integrity of human rights monitoring and the conclusions in this report are ESI's but without their support this report could not have been written [6]              ESI, "Caviar Diplomacy – How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe" [7]              See "The Movement of Communion and Liberation", Communion and Liberation Official site. See also National Catholic Reporter, "Conservative Catholic group gripped by scandal" [8]              Pontifical Council for Culture, "The Treasure of Azerbaijan" [9]              Heydar Aliyev Foundation, "Treasures of Azerbaijan through the Wave of History" [10]            Elkhan Suleymanov (ACSDA), "Azerbaijan: 10 Years a Member of the Council of Europe" Lintner had chaired the PACE monitoring committee between 2006 and 2007 Once he left PACE he became a lobbyist for Azerbaijan in Germany leading the "Gesellschaft zur Forderung der deutsch-aserbaidschanischen Beziehungen." [12]            For more on this see: ESI, "Showdown in Strasbourg. The political prisoner debate in October 2012", 15 February 2013 [13]            For more on Pedro Agramunt see: ESI "A Portrait of Deception. Monitoring Azerbaijan or why Pedro Agramunt should resign" [14]            More in ESI, "Caviar Diplomacy – How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe" [15]            The Guardian, "Former Lib Dem MP Hancock apologises over inappropriate conduct" [16]            ESI, "Azerbaijan debacle: The PACE debate on 23 January 2013" [17]            Ibid [18]            Ibid [19]            Mariani, a former minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, figures prominently as a friend of the Baku regime in the French documentary aired on France 2 – Cash Investigation, "Mon président est en voyage d'affaires." [20]            The Italians voted as follows: Luca Volonte Giacomo Stucchi and Giuseppe Valentino voted against Strasser's report and there was one abstention from Renato Farinoa [21]            See tabes of who voted with and against Azerbaijan in ESI, "Azerbaijan debacle: The PACE debate on 23 January 2013" [22]            Latin for: Let there be light [23]            According to the Italian Criminal Code Article 318 is punishable with one to six years article 648 bis is punishable with four to twelve years and with a sanction from €1,032 to €15,493 [24]            Report (RAI 3), "Caviar Democracy" [25]            Rebecca Vincent, "Release Ilgar Mammadov" [26]            Front Line Defenders, "Case History: Anar Mammadli" [27]            The Guardian, "Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova freed in Azerbaijan" [28]            Human Rights Watch (HRW), "Tightening the Screws: Azerbaijan's Crackdown on Civil Society and Dissent" [29]            Amnesty International "Azerbaijan in downward spiral of oppression ahead of presidential elections" [30]            A Human Rights and the End of Empire – Britain and the Genesis of the European Convention [31]            Ibid [32]            British lawyers like David Maxwell-Fyfe played a central role in the drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights The United Kingdom was also the first country to ratify the convention in 1951 [33]            Detailed proposals will follow in January 2017 in part three in the ESI Caviar Diplomacy series Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.