Amendment No. 3 | Doc. 14397 | 10 October 2017

Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: what follow-up on respect for human rights?

Signatories: Ms Lotta JOHNSSON FORNARVE, Sweden, UEL ; Ms Ute FINCKH-KRÄMER, Germany, SOC ; Ms Annette GROTH, Germany, UEL ; Mr Matjaž HANŽEK, Slovenia, UEL ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Ertuğrul KÜRKÇÜ, Turkey, UEL ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Marco NICOLINI, San Marino, UEL ; Mr Georgios PSYCHOGIOS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Ulla SANDBÆK, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Søren SØNDERGAARD, Denmark, UEL ; Ms Olena SOTNYK, Ukraine, ALDE

Origin - 2017 - Fourth part-session

In the draft resolution, paragraph 4, in the second sentence, replace the words: "as far as possible, to release wrongfully imprisoned persons, and to" with the following words:

"to release all wrongfully imprisoned human rights defenders, journalists, civic and political activists. The authorities should also".

Explanatory note

Among those wrongfully imprisoned are human rights defenders, journalists, civic and political activists. Overwhelming use of pre-trial detention is a separate persistent problem in Azerbaijan and should also be addressed.