Federal Lezghi
National and Cultural Autonomy

C.Kazymly: Working group on political prisoners must be re-formed

 

The process of formation of the "Working Group on Human Rights" was not transparent, there was no prior discussion with human rights defenders and activists, and in fact it has been formed in the previous version.

If you really have a desire to solve the problem of political prisoners, the working group should be formed anew, said the coordinator of  Elections  Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDSC) Samir Kazimli. He noted that with the exception of a few members of the WG, all  the representatives of this NGO  deny the existence of the problem of political prisoners, and even slander them. In such a situation one should not expect expected from WG real effective work for the release of political prisoners, believes Kazimli.

Even those who recognize the fact of political prisoners, do not support a single list of political prisoners from 98 people, supported by a large number of civil society activists. In addition, continued Kazimli, WP does not enjoy the confidence of the majority of political prisoners. Even in the name of the WG  there is no word "political prisoner", but only "human rights", which effectively dilutes the essence of the proposals CoE Secretary General, Jagland, to create a group on political prisoners. Another shortcoming  is  the lack of a WG independent lawyers.

Therefore, the WG should be dismissed, and a new group with the participation of those who participated in the drafting  a single list of 98 political prisoners should be created.

How is it that in the Attorney General's office is presented the WG,  but  there are not lawyers defending political prisoners?

The group should include representatives of international organizations, including the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, and the EU, believes Kazimli.

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