H. Res. 326

In the House of Representatives, U.S., 

July 20, 2005.

Whereas the Republic of Azerbaijan is scheduled to hold elections for its parliament, the Milli Majlis, in November 

2005; 

Whereas Azerbaijan has enjoyed a strong relationship with 

the United States since its independence from the former 

Soviet Union in 1991; 

Whereas international observers monitoring Azerbaijan’s October 2003 presidential election found that the pre-election, election day, and post-election environments fell 

short of international standards; 

Whereas the International Election Observation Mission 

(IEOM) in Baku, Azerbaijan, deployed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and 

the Council of Europe, found that there were numerous 

instances of violence by both members of the opposition 

and government forces; 

Whereas the international election observers also found inequality and irregularities in campaign and election conditions, including intimidation of opposition supporters, 

restrictions on political rallies by opposition candidates, 

and voting fraud; 
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Whereas Azerbaijan freely accepted a series of commitments 

on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law when 

that country joined the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a participating State in 1992; 

Whereas, following the 2003 presidential election, the Council 

of Europe adopted Resolution 1358 (2004) demanding 

that the Government of Azerbaijan immediately implement a series of steps that included the release of political prisoners, investigation of election fraud, and the creation of public service television to allow all political parties to better communicate with the people of Azerbaijan; 

Whereas, since the 2003 presidential election, the Government of Azerbaijan has taken a number of positive steps 

by releasing some political prisoners and working toward 

the establishment of public service television; 

Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires that citizens be guaranteed the right and opportunity to exercise 

their civil and political rights free from intimidation, 

undue influence, threats of political retribution, or other 

forms of coercion by national or local authorities or others; 

Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires government and public authorities to ensure that candidates 

and political parties enjoy equal treatment before the law 

and that government resources are not employed to the 

advantage of individual candidates or political parties; 

and 

Whereas the establishment of a transparent, free and fair 

election process for the 2005 parliamentary elections 

would be an important step in Azerbaijan’s progress to-
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ward full integration into the democratic community of 

nations: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) calls upon the Government of the Republic of 

Azerbaijan to hold orderly, peaceful, and free and fair 

parliamentary elections in November 2005 in order to 

ensure the long-term growth and stability of the country; 

(2) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

guarantee the full participation of opposition parties in 

the upcoming elections, including members of opposition 

parties arrested in the months leading up to the November 2005 parliamentary elections; 

(3) calls upon the opposition parties to fully and 

peacefully participate in the November 2005 parliamentary elections, and calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to create the conditions for the participation on 

equal grounds of all viable candidates; 

(4) believes it is critical that the November 2005 

parliamentary elections be viewed by the people of Azerbaijan as free and fair, and that all sides refrain from 

violence during the campaign, on election day, and following the election; 

(5) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

guarantee election monitors from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), 
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Azeri political parties, candidates’ representatives, nongovernmental organizations, and other private institutions and organizations, both foreign and domestic, 

unimpeded access to all aspects of the election process; 

(6) supports recommendations made by the Council 

of Europe on amendments to the Unified Election Code 

of Azerbaijan, specifically to ensure equitable representation of opposition and pro-government forces in all election commissions; 

(7) urges the international community and domestic 

nongovernmental organizations to provide a sufficient 

number of election observers to ensure credible monitoring and reporting of the November 2005 parliamentary elections; 

(8) recognizes the need for the establishment of an 

independent media and assurances by the Government of 

Azerbaijan that freedom of the press will be guaranteed; 

and 

(9) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. 

Attest:

Clerk.