III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 260 

Calling for free and fair parliamentary elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. LUGAR, and Mr. 

BROWNBACK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for free and fair parliamentary elections in the 

Republic of Azerbaijan. 

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 Organiza-
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tion 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 against opposition supporters, restrictions on political rallies by opposition candidates, and voting fraud; 

Whereas Azerbaijan freely accepted a series of commitments 

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

that country joined the OSCE 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 some positive steps by releasing some political prisoners and working to create 

public service television; 

Whereas the United States supports the promotion of democracy and transparent, free, and fair elections consistent 

with the commitments of Azerbaijan as a participating 

State of the OSCE; 

Whereas the United States is working with the Government 

of Azerbaijan, the political opposition, civil society, the 

OSCE, the Council of Europe, and other countries to 
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strengthen the electoral process of Azerbaijan through 

diplomatic efforts and non-partisan assistance programs, 

including support for international and domestic election 

observers, voter education and election information initiatives, training for candidates and political parties, and 

training for judges and lawyers on the adjudication of 

election disputes; 

Whereas the Government of the United States has awarded 

a contract to conduct exit polling throughout Azerbaijan; 

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 is 

an important step in Azerbaijan’s progress toward full integration into the democratic community of nations: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the Government of the Republic of 

3 Azerbaijan to hold orderly, peaceful, and free and 

4 fair parliamentary elections in November 2005 in 
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1 order to ensure the long-term growth and stability of 

2 the country; 

3 (2) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

4 guarantee the full participation of opposition parties 

5 in the upcoming elections, including members of op6 position parties arrested in the months leading up to 

7 the November 2005 parliamentary elections; 

8 (3) calls upon the opposition parties to fully 

9 and peacefully participate in the November 2005 

10 parliamentary elections, and calls upon the Govern11 ment of Azerbaijan to create the conditions for the 

12 participation on equal grounds of all viable can13 didates; 

14 (4) believes it is critical that the November 

15 2005 parliamentary elections be viewed by the peo16 ple of Azerbaijan as free and fair, and that all sides 

17 refrain from violence during the campaign, on elec18 tion day, and following the election; 

19 (5) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

20 guarantee election monitors from the Office for 

21 Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the 

22 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eu23 rope (OSCE), Azeri political parties, representatives 

24 of candidates, nongovernmental organizations, and 

25 other private institutions and organizations, both 
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1 foreign and domestic, unimpeded access to all as2 pects of the election process; 

3 (6) supports recommendations made by the 

4 Council of Europe on amendments to the Unified 

5 Election Code of Azerbaijan, specifically to ensure 

6 equitable representation of opposition and pro-gov7 ernment forces in all election commissions; 

8 (7) urges the international community and do9 mestic nongovernmental organizations to provide a 

10 sufficient number of election observers to ensure 

11 credible monitoring and reporting of the November 

12 2005 parliamentary elections; 

13 (8) recognizes the need for the establishment of 

14 an independent media and assurances by the Gov15 ernment of Azerbaijan that freedom of the press will 

16 be guaranteed; and 

17 (9) calls upon the Government of Azerbaijan to 

18 guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of assem19 bly. 

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