PACE criticizes Russia and Azerbaijan for oppression of human rights advocates
A journalist for European Pravda reported from Strasbourg that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted two resolutions in response to the negative feedback received regarding the state of democracy in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and to a lesser extent, a number of other countries.
These resolutions were based on systematic harassments of non-governmental organizations as well as the restriction of the rights of human rights advocates. The greatest claims have been made in relation to Moscow and Baku. Recently, the work of human rights organizations was forcibly stopped in Azerbaijan, and a few leading public figures were imprisoned.
The law on "foreign agents" in Russia, which restricts the activities of organizations that receive overseas funding, is still in force. Among other things, the PACE intends to create a separate platform responsible for the issues and problems of NGOs in countries of the Council of Europe.