Rights Centre NGO together with six NGOs have submitted a communication to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, raising serious concerns over Azerbaijan’s continued failure to implement the binding judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan and Hungary.
The communication called for urgent and decisive measures, including the adoption of an interim resolution, in response to Azerbaijan’s deliberate and ongoing non-compliance with its obligations under Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
In its landmark judgment of 26 May 2020, the ECHR found that Azerbaijan violated Article 2 (Right to Life) and Article 14 (Prohibition of Discrimination) in conjunction with Article 2.
The case concerned the 2004 murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Hungary. After being convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, the perpetrator was transferred to Azerbaijan in 2012 to continue serving his sentence. Instead of enforcing the sentence, Azerbaijani authorities immediately pardoned and released him, promoted him, and granted financial and housing benefits.
The Court held that these actions demonstrated racial discrimination and sent a message of impunity for hate-motivated violence. The judgment became final on 12 October 2020 and remains under enhanced supervision.
As a result of the Communication, the Committee of Ministers adopted an Interim Resolution.
The Committee deplored that, despite the conviction of the Azerbaijani military officer for a particularly cruel, premeditated murder motivated solely by the Armenian nationality of the victim, and four years after the final judgment in Makuchyan and Minasyan, the Azerbaijani authorities have failed to demonstrate tangible progress in implementing the required individual measures. It urged them to promptly comply with their obligation to pay the awarded costs and expenses, confirm the removal of official letters supporting the perpetrator’s pardon and release, ensure that he no longer holds any public office, and clarify the legal basis for the additional benefits granted to him.