AZERBAIJAN'S MEMBERSHIP IN CE QUESTIONED AGAIN

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Council of Europe will apply sanctions against Azerbaijan if till mid 2004 official Baku does not meet the commitments undertaken at the entry to the CE, member of the PACE Committee for the legal issues and human rights Malcolm Bruce's report, entitled "Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan", which is to be discussed during PACE January session, states. Despite the recent pardon due to which several political prisoners were released, the report maintains rather strict expressions, Zerkalo Baku newspaper writes. "Beginning with the moment Azerbaijan entered the CE in 2001 the country's authorities were inconsistent in resolving the problem of the political prisoners and did not eliminate the reasons provoking the appearance of the category. If Azerbaijan's leadership does not undertake drastic steps in this direction in near future, it could face CE's sanctions ", the report says. At the same time it mentions that the presence of political prisoners is incompatible with Azerbaijan's membership in the Council of Europe. "88 more people, who were by various reasons forgotten, should be added to the list of 716 prisoners compiled by the lawyers", the document notes, also emphasizing that some of the arrested after the presidential election on October 15, 2003 can as well be considered political prisoners, the fact causing "grave anxiety". "The Assembly holds the opinion that in case the problem of the political prisoners does not find its resolving until the fall session of 2004, Azerbaijan's presence in CE will reach its breaking point", the resolution underscores. At the same time the Assembly calls the CE member-states "to be extremely cautious" when considering Azerbaijan's inquiries about the persons, who could be persecuted with political motives.