Human Rights Activists Called on to Restore Post of PACE Rapporteur on Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan

The members of the Working Group on the preparation of a single list of political prisoners appealed to the Council of Europe's leaders, urging them to pay attention to the growing problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The appeal was addressed to the President of PACE Pedro Agramunt, CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, CE Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks, the PACE Committees on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and Political Affairs and Democracy, and the political groups of the Assembly.

The authors remind that it has been 4 years since the PACE report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, prepared by the deputy Christopher Strasser.

Since then, the situation in Azerbaijan with political freedoms and the protection of democratic institutions has deteriorated dramatically. Dozens of people were arrested on trumped-up charges, and harassed for social and political activities. Currently in Azerbaijan there are at least 120 political prisoners.

The European Court of Human Rights decisions on politically motivated charges are not fulfilled and the defendants are not provided with fair trial and the rule of law.

For example, Baku ignores the ECHR decision on the case of the leader of the movement REAL Ilgar Mammadov from 2014, and continues to consistently implement political repression.

The authors welcome the genuine concern of the PACE members representing different political groups with respect to the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. But there is a need for more extensive and regular monitoring of the situation.

The members of the Working Group regret that assigned to assess the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan, Alain Destexhe did not work on his mandate, failing to cooperate with civil society and human rights defenders, and did not come into the country in the framework of the mandate. He only once visited Baku during the opening races of Formula 1, and met only with officials.

“With this in mind, as well as given the fact of taking a bribe by the former Vice President of the Assembly Luca Volonte from two members of the Azerbaijani delegation for the failure of Strasser's report, we consider it necessary once again to take the PACE monitoring of the situation of political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” the message noted.

In particular, appointment of a new rapporteur on political prisoners is proposed for a thorough and objective investigation of this problem.

It is also proposed to replace Destexhe as a speaker by another parliamentarian.

The appeal was signed by Asabali Mustafayev, Annagi Hajibeyli, Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov, Khadija Ismayilova, Anar Mammadli, Shahveled Chobanoglu, Rovshan Hajiyev, Samir Kazimli, and Khalid Bagirov. -06D-