Committee condemns the use of a European Convention by Azerbaijan in

Parliamentary Assembly Council Europe
May 27 2014

Committee condemns the use of a European Convention by Azerbaijan in
the Safarov case

Strasbourg

Parliamentary Assembly Council Europe has been issued the following
press release:

PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights’s condemned the use
of Article 12 of the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced
Persons by Azerbaijan in the case of Ramil Safarov, “as a violation of
the principles of good faith in international relations and of the
rule of law”.

The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons provides for the
transfer of foreign prisoners to their home countries. Its purpose is
primarily humanitarian, to improve prospects of rehabilitation and
reintegration of prison inmates into society.

The draft resolution adopted, based on the report by Christopher Chope
(United Kingdom, EDG), notes with concern that the Convention was
invoked in order to justify the immediate release upon transfer to
Azerbaijan of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani soldier convicted for
murdering a fellow Armenian participant of a NATO “Partnership for
Peace” training course in Hungary. Upon his arrival in Azerbaijan, he
was welcomed as a national hero, granted an immediate pardon, long
before the expiry of the minimum sentence set by the Hungarian court,
a retroactive promotion as well as other rewards.

The text underlines that the Convention “is not designed to be used
for the immediate release of prisoners upon return to their own
country”. It underscores the importance of “applying the Convention in
good faith and, in interpreting its provisions, adhering to the
principles of the rule of law”, in particular in transfer cases that
might entail political or diplomatic implications.

The draft resolution should be presented for debate to the Assembly
later in 2014.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress