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Doc. 9465
21 May 2002
Political prisoners in Europe
Motion for an order
presented by Mr Jurgens and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it |
1. The Assembly draws attention to its Resolution 1272 (2002) on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, adopted on 24 January 2002, and reiterates that no-one may be imprisoned for political reasons in a Council of Europe member state.
2. The Assembly observes that there are persons in certain Council of Europe member states who believe that they have been imprisoned for political reasons. These individuals frequently put forward various grounds, such as lack of judicial independence, legislative shortcomings or undemocratic investigative practices and methods in order to justify their allegations and claim that they have not received a fair trial in line with the standards of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
3. It is essential to clarify the situation of persons who are presumed to have been imprisoned for political reasons in certain member states.
4. Accordingly, the Assembly instructs its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to determine whether the reasons submitted by the authorities in various member states for imprisoning individuals who are alleged to be political prisoners may be regarded as political.
Signed : 1
Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC
Aguiar, Portugal, EPP
Bindig, Germany, SOC
Bruce, United Kingdom, LDR
Cilevics, Latvia, SOC
Guardans, Spain, LDR
Kresak, Slovakia, LDR
Kroupa, Czech Republic, EPP
Magnusson, Sweden, SOC
Piscitello, Italy, LDR
Vos, Netherlands, LDR
1 SOC: Socialist Group
EPP: Group of the European People’s Party
EDG: European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group
UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
NR: not registered in a group