After the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced its decision not to send an election observer mission to Azerbaijan due to restrictions imposed by the government of Azerbaijan, another rights watchdog organization, Freedom House issued the following statement:
"The conditions imposed by President Aliyev's government on the European observer mission for the November 1 parliamentary elections make clear that Azerbaijanis risk having their votes stolen. Members of the U.S. Congress should speak up for the people of Azerbaijan by calling on Aliyev's government to explain its actions and allow a comprehensive, credible election observation mission".
Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), announced September 11ODIHR's decision to cancel its mission to observe the country’s parliamentary elections due to restrictions.
“The restriction on the number of observers taking part would make it impossible for the mission to carry out effective and credible election observation. Regretfully, we are compelled by these actions to cancel the deployment of ODIHR’s observation mission for the parliamentary elections.”
“The Azerbaijani authorities’ insistence on a restricted number of observers is directly counter to the country’s OSCE commitments and in contradiction to ODIHR’s election observation mandate,” he added.