The EU has Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with the three Caucasus countries and is currently negotiating with them "action plans" that will set concrete benchmarks for progress in a number of areas, including human rights.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia have all promised improvements in human-rights compliance but Human Rights Watch in a statement dated 9 December said that despite limited progress in some areas, human rights violations continued to exist in the three countries. Among ongoing human rights problems the U.S.-based group listed torture, lack of independence of the judiciary, and restrictions on freedom of the press.
Holly Cartner, Europe, and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a press statement that EU cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia needs to include a public acknowledgement of these problems, if the EU wants to address them "in a meaningful way."
