MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2024)1514/H46-6

5 December 2024

1514th meeting, 3-5 December 2024 (DH)

 

H46-6 Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan (Application No. 17247/13)

Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments

 

Reference documents

CM/Notes/1514/H46-6

 

Decisions

The Deputies

1.         recalling that this case concerns the measures taken by the authorities of Azerbaijan in respect of one of its military officers who had been convicted of an extremely cruel hate crime against two Armenian officers in Hungary and who, following his transfer to Azerbaijan, was pardoned, released, promoted and awarded benefits, which measures the Court found to have in effect granted him impunity and to have had a causal link to the Armenian ethnicity of his victims;

As regards individual measures

2.         underlining that more than four years have passed since the Makuchyan and Minasyan judgment became final, noted with great concern that the authorities have not informed the Committee of Ministers of the adoption of any individual measure;

3.         urged once again the authorities to pay the costs and expenses to the applicants’ representatives, without further delay;

4.         recalling the authorities’ previous assurances in this respect, urged them to confirm as a matter of urgency that the letters supporting the pardon and release of the perpetrator, posted on the website of the Presidential Administration, have been removed;

5.         reiterating that the perpetrators of serious human rights breaches, such as those in the present case, should not remain eligible for holding public office, insisted that the authorities take measures to ensure that this principle is applied in the present case;

6.         requested once again the authorities to rapidly clarify their position as regards the “other benefits” provided to the perpetrator, which the Court considered to “appear not to have had any legal basis under domestic law”;

As regards general measures

7.         invited anew the authorities to ensure that any act absolving persons from criminal punishment or granting them immunity from prosecution are used in future with due consideration of the requirements of the Convention, in particular the obligation to counteract impunity for serious violations of human rights;

8.         recalling the information provided in the action plan from 2023, concerning the guarantees under domestic law, as well as legislative amendments envisaged to prevent and combat ethnically-motivated hatred, as well as Azerbaijan’s co-operation notably with the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), repeated their invitation to the authorities to consider further legislative changes to prevent and combat ethnically-motivated hatred, in particular by including explicit reference to grounds of colour, language, citizenship and ethnic origin in all criminal law provisions aimed at combating racism and discrimination, as well as measures to promote reconciliation with a view to eradicating hostility between Azerbaijani and Armenian people; 

9.         recalled the importance for the Azerbaijani authorities to closely co-operate in particular with ECRI and to follow its recommendations to combat ethnic hatred, as well as to make full use of the assistance of the Council of Europe co-operation programmes, within the framework of the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Azerbaijan for 2022-2025, in the implementation of this judgment;

10.       requested the authorities to provide information on all the above points in good time for the Committee’s next examination at its 1531st meeting (June 2025) (DH), and instructed the Secretariat to prepare a draft interim resolution for the Committee’s consideration if no tangible progress is achieved in the individual measures by then.