Report of the PACE rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Christoph Strasser, to be submitted to PACE January session, fully reflects the reality. Persons included in his list, fully meet the definition of "political prisoner", said the Director of Media Rights Institute (MRI), Rashid Hajili, commenting on the report.
According to him, they only have to make technical changes to the lists of political prisoners, by excluding the names of the released, and adding new names.
Hajili stressed that Strasser made his report based on information from many local and international human rights organizations.
Commenting on the criticism of the report Strasser by the Azerbaijani authorities, and that he made the list not having been in place, Hajili said that the responsibility for this bear the authorities. He reminded that in 2009, the Azerbaijani authorities do not give Strasser visa to fulfill his mission. Later official Baku agreed to accept Strasser only for discussions on the criteria for the term "political prisoner." At the same time, they objected the collection of the facts relating to specific individuals.
Hajili expressed surprise at the harsh criticism of the report Strasser and his accusation of bias by the head of the Azerbaijani delegation. Better the Azeri side brought arguments on specific facts. Blanket criticism by Strasser and his accusation of bias is not justified, and does not meet the parliamentary ethics. All it means unwillingness by authorities to have a dialogue, said Hajili.
After the report of the Assembly, it is no longer be the position of Strasser, and will reflect the will of the PACE. Further ignoring the position of international organizations, will do damage to the image of the government in an election year. Therefore, the authorities would have to release a significant number of persons from the list of Strasser, said Hajili.
There are 85 people in the list of Strasser, and 27 of them have already been released.
According to the Institute of Peace and Democracy in Azerbaijan, there are more than 60 political prisoners.
The monitoring group of human rights organizations of Azerbaijan mentioned 10 political prisoners, and authorities say that there are not political prisoners in Azerbaijan.—06B--
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