The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe expressed concerns over continuous hateful rhetoric against Armenians in Azerbaijan in a recently published report. The authors of the report noticed that political leaders, educational institutions and media continued using hate speech against Armenians.

Mediamax talked to the CoE European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) member Gabriel Balayan about the effect and legal power of the report, as well as possible consequences it could have for Azerbaijan.

- Mr. Balayan, what effect and consequences will this report have for Azerbaijan?

- Undoubtedly, the report won’t pass without consequences and will affect all projects implemented in Azerbaijan. Many international organizations, including the European Union and the Office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, reference reports of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance in their research and documents.

International investors also use ECRI reports, taking into account the attitude towards ethnic minorities and intolerant and hateful environment in the given country.

- What sources do the authors of the report use?

- The report is formed by the research of media publications, contacts with civil society representatives and visits of the fact-collecting teams. After a final discussion, these are made into a document that states concerns and makes related suggestions.

- What legal power or punishment mechanism can the report have?

- It doesn’t have legal power or any punishment mechanism, but I am sure that should PACE hold a discussion on possible sanctions against Azerbaijan, the report can be the base of it.

The CoE MPs usually read ECRI reports. I would also like to mention that the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance is the only body that has a factor of control, but is not founded by a treaty. It works on a decision and has a rather large research area.

- The authors of the report expressed concerns over the release and pardon of Ramil Safarov. Isn’t it too late?

- There are clear regulations which indicate that each member state of the commission enters a monitoring phase once in five years, and a report with suggestions for the leadership of the given country is prepared, based on the mentioned monitoring and discussions.

This might seem belated to us at the moment, but the commission prepared the concerns and the report in time, according to its regulations.

Siranush Yeghiazaryan talked to Gabriel Balayan