23:19, 1 February 2005

Azerbaijan can be excluded from PACE

"If the problem of political prisoners hasn't been solved in Azerbaijan by the April session of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), the country can lose its mandate in this organization," PACE rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan Malcolm Bruce stated to BBC. According to him, he is studying the case of seven opposition leaders and believes they fall into the category of political prisoners.

Human rights activist Leyla Yunus pointed out that she had warned many times about the limits of patience of international organizations. "If Azerbaijan doesn't meet its obligations within the period mentioned by Mr Bruce, sanctions can be imposed on us," Ms Yunus said. The human rights activist holds that the best way out of the situation that has arisen is to offer amnesty to all people considered to be political prisoners. "Azerbaijan can avoid undesirable consequences only by offering general amnesty," she underlined.

Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent