Azerbaijan has accepted the obligation in front of the Council of Europe to release or re-consider the cases of political prisoners in the country. Yet almost three years have passed since Azerbaijan became a member of the organization, and many of the persons listed by the Council of Europe and local human rights organizations as “political prisoners” are still not free. Two of the top people in the list are former Defense Minister Rahim Gaziyev and leader of Talysh-Mugan separatist movement in the south Aliakram Humbatov.

The Azerbaijani delegation, headed by Ilham Aliyev, the President’s son and deputy chairman of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, immediately attacked the report, describing it as incomplete. Ilham Aliyev specifically referred to the amnesty act signed by President Aliyev a week before the summer session of PACE started, which granted freedom to dozens of prisoners. In addition to this, Ilham Aliyev claimed that many of the persons in Cleyfart’s list are not political prisoners, but rather terrorists and criminals, who “if freed, would commit acts of crime against civilians in the country.” In total, the Azerbaijani delegation gave 40 recommendations to the report. Considering these remarks, Aliyev proposed to put off the discussion of the issue till January 2004, the winter session of PACE.

The subcommittee of PACE rejected this suggestion, and the bill was included into the general session’s agenda. Aliyev accused the Council of Europe of double standards, because last year when Armenia was ahead of elections, the Council of Europe put off the discussion of the death penalty issue in Armenia for the post-election period. The Azerbaijani delegation argued that discussion of the political prisoners case prior to the upcoming presidential elections would alter the political balance in the country.

After heated debates, the author of the report, Cleyfart, decided to take it back and submit it back for consideration in September. “We have information that the head of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE has made a gentlemen’s agreement with the leadership of PACE that all political prisoners will be released by September” said Gulamhusseyn Alibeyli, an opposition Popular Front Party member of the Azerbaijani delegation. He also added that he was not sure if the Azerbaijani delegation would keep this promise, because it did not fulfill the official obligation it has taken in front of this organization. “But I hope that this issue will be solved somehow”, he concluded. Another member from the Popular Front, Asim Mollazade, said that he did not agree that some terrorists were included into the list, because it hurts the image of the Council of Europe.

Thus Azerbaijan received a last chance from the Council of Europe to fix the problem. Although the Azerbaijani government claims that many of the people in the list are not political prisoners, talks on the criteria for determining who is a real political prisoner and who is not have run out of time. Should the Azerbaijani government not release these prisoners, it might face serious sanctions from the Council of Europe, including the loss of the Azerbaijani delegation’s voting rights in PACE.

Meanwhile, on July 2, an Azerbaijani court completed finished the reconsideration of former Interior Minister Iskender Hamidov’s case, and has re-sentenced him to 11 years in prison. Hamidov has already served 8 years and is considered to be on the top of the so called “political prisoners” list. Speaking at the trial, Ali Kerimli, the chairman of the opposition Popular Front party, said that this court decision once again showed that the Azerbaijani government violated its obligations in front of international organizations.

Many local observers believe that the Council of Europe will be hesitant to discuss this issue in September, just one month prior to the elections. Some of the prisoners may have to wait for a long time.