Azerbaijani activists call on PACE to appoint special rapporteur on political prisoners

A group of Azerbaijani activists have appealed to bodies of the Council of Europe (CE) with a call for help to solve the problem of political prisoners. The activists have claimed the need for restoration of the post of the PACE special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 23, political emigrants from Azerbaijan gathered in front of the CE building in Strasbourg. They have requested the PACE to give more attention to the problems of political prisoners in Azerbaijan and to appoint a new rapporteur on the issue.

According to the activists, four years have already passed after the failure of the PACE report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan prepared by MP Christopher Strasser.

"Since then, in Azerbaijan, the situation with political freedoms and protection of democratic institutions deteriorated sharply," noted Samir Kazymly, the coordinator of the "Alliance to Protect Political Freedoms".

Meanwhile, the resolutions adopted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) "on politically motivated charges have not been fulfilled."

Members of the working group have noted that Belgian MP Alain Destexhe appointed in 2016 to assess the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan did not work under his mandate. He only once visited Baku to attend the opening of Formula 1 races in June 2016 and met only officials.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.