Human rights activists do not give up

The failure of the PACE resolution on the report by Christopher Strasser on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, is not a failure, said a group of defenders at  a press conference on Tuesday in the Media Centre.

The head of the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety, Emin Huseynov, said that the question of political prisoners was reflected  in the report of Argamunt  and Grekh, the reporters on Azerbaijan.

As for the reasons for not adopting the report by Strasser, one of the reasons was lobbying the Azerbaijani authorities and pro-government organizations who attended the PACE  session.

However, this does not mean that the issue of political prisoners is closed. Human rights activists will seek restoration of the post of special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, or those responsible for the situation with political prisoners.

"The task of civil society is to continue working in this direction," Huseynov said.

Director of Media Rights Institute, Rashid Hajili, took part in a press conference on the phone. He noted that the discussion of the two reports directly to PACE, affect the overall situation. Thus, the resolution on the first report stated that there is no condition in Azerbaijan for the activities of the political opposition, and it was noted the absence of  free courts, and the presence of those arrested for political reasons.

A press conference was held jointly with the Human Rights House, which is the structure of the Norwegian Human Rights House Foundation. According to the representative of the Human Rights House, Shahla Ismail,  they  are concerned with what is  happening in Azerbaijan. She noted that the  Human Rights  House Foundation issued a press release on the results of the discussion in the Council of Europe and the rejection of the Resolution on the report by Strasser.

Press release expressed regret and disapproval of this questionable decision, said Shahla Ismail. -04С-