Azernews.Az

A Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rapporteur has called for immediate efforts to foster unity among Azerbaijani citizens.
"The Azerbaijani society is dividing. Urgent public reconciliation measures should be taken in the country," Andres Herkel told a press conference on the outcomes of his and counterpart Evguenia Jivkova's four-day visit to Baku last week.
Herkel said these steps include the release of the jailed journalists and so-called political prisoners, and ailing inmates in particular, as well as further dialog with the CE Venice Commission on changes to electoral legislation.
18 seats in the commissions are currently equally split among pro-government, opposition and independent members, but the opposition claims that independent members tend to favor the government.
"Such election commissions should be set up that would gain public confidence. Both authorities and opposition should trust these bodies," the rapporteur said.
He said all these measures were up to the Azerbaijani government. "We discussed implementation of Azerbaijan's commitments in a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev. Certainly, we had differences of opinion on a number of issues. But overall, our meeting proceeded in the spirit of cooperation. The solution of outstanding problems is now up to the president, not us. We would like for these problems not to be there when we pay our next visit so that we can talk about other things."
The rapporteurs voiced hope that this year's presidential poll will be transparent and participated in by opposition parties. The issue was discussed with opposition leaders, Herkel said.
"We believe that we managed to persuade them to take part in the elections. Participation at the elections even in non-ideal conditions is always a better political tactics than boycotting them," he said.
The country's main opposition parties who claimed rigging at the previous polls predict that this vote will be unfair as well, refusing to take part in the upcoming elections.
Herkel said in conclusion that possible appointment of PACE's special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, an issue that has been in spotlight of local and international observers, depended on future activity of the relevant taskforce that comprises both officials and rights defenders.
The working group mulled the purported political prisoners issue in its regular meeting at the Azerbaijani parliament on Thursday. The discussions that proceeded without journalists present were attended by both PACE rapporteurs.
Rights defender Sahib Mammadov told the press after the meeting that representatives of the government and NGOs had exchanged views on a list of 35 alleged political prisoners submitted by rights champions.
Officials represented in the taskforce said there was no "political prisoners" problem in Azerbaijan and that the persons cited in the list were prosecuted for breaking the law. They also came out strongly against the appointment of PACE's rapporteur on the issue.
A group of local rights defenders has come up with the initiative, claiming that the "political prisoner" issue remains unresolved in the country. A relevant written appeal had been forwarded to the assembly.
The PACE rapporteurs indicated that they were not in favor of the appointment, saying the outstanding problems could be solved on the level of the joint taskforce. "The 'political prisoners' problem should be addressed within Azerbaijan," Herkel said.
Officials and rights defenders agreed with the rapporteur. The overall view of the participants was that the appointment of a special representative on "political prisoners" would adversely affect the dialog that has started between the authorities and rights activists.
The attendees also agreed that the next meeting of the working group will be held on March 3.
Head of the Law Defense Bureau, Saida Gojamanly, said the PACE bureau is expected to consider the rapporteur's appointment on March 13.
"The Azerbaijani government should take some steps by that time. If journalists and sick inmates are not released by then, the appointment looks realistic," she said.
The "political prisoners' issue was discussed at the PACE Monitoring Committee during the assembly's session held in January. It was then decided that the matter will be revisited after the PACE rapporteurs' visit to Baku.