Briefing note: Summer 2014: Crackdown on Human Rights Defenders and Activists in Azerbaijan

Ms. Yunus,detained in Kurdakhani Detention Center No 1, was repeatedly harassed andphysically attacked by her cellmate. Moreover, despite her severe healthproblems she has not received necessary medical help. Mr Aliyev's health hasalso sharply deteriorated. As reported by his family, on November 7, 2014,after two hours of their meeting he could no longer speak or stand. He suffersfrom severe headache, loss of appetite and insomnia. An examination in late Octoberrevealed cervical osteochondrosis and protrusion ofthe intervertebral disc, which necessitates hospital treatment.

Dismissals and harassment of the lawyers of humanrights defenders is another unacceptable phenonemon. Notably, on October 29,2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was deprived of her lawyer, Mr. Javad Javadov. Thisdecision followed Mr. Javadov’s active criticism of the judicial processagainst Ms. Yunus. On November 5, 2014, Ms. Yunus was deprived of her secondlawyer, Mr. Khalid Bagirov, for unexplained reasons. There is a risk that herthird lawyer, Mr. Alaif Hasanov, will also be dismissed. He has already beensubject of a lawsuit by a cellmate of Ms. Yunus, Ms. Nuriya Huseynova. Thelatter accused Mr. Hasanov of calling her a “criminal” in a report published inthe Azadlig newspaper on September 17, 2014. On November 6, 2014, thecourt sentenced Mr. Hasanov to 240 hours of community service. Similarly, threeout of four lawyers of Mr. IntigamAliyev, namely Messrs. Anar Qasymly, Alayif Hasanov and FarizNamazly, have now been excluded from his defence, due to the fact that lawyersare called as witnesses in the case.

The abovehuman rights defenders joined the previously imprisoned human rightsdefenders Messrs. Anar Mammadli, Chairperson of the Election Monitoringand Democracy Studies Centre (EMDSC) and Bashir Suleymani, ExecutiveDirector of EMDSC. In May 2014, they were sentenced by the Court onGrave Crimes to respectively to 5,5 years’ and 3,5 years’ imprisonment oncharges of “tax evasion”, “illegal entrepreneurship”, and “abuse of authority”.

Theunprecedented 2014 crackdown on NGOs and their leaders had been immediatelypreceded by new legislative acts targeting civil society. New anti-NGO laws,adopted in 2014, provide the authorities with additional powers for temporarysuspension and permanent banning of national and foreign NGOs, and introduceadditional administrative requirements and increased checks. Non-registeredNGOs cannot be considered recipients of grants anymore. While working undernon-registered grants is an administrative offence, the courts now tend toconsider such funds as personal income in an attempt to persecute theirrecipients for tax evasion under criminal law. In addition, the bank accountsof several NGOs and representatives were frozen upon request of the GeneralProsecutor’s Office, including those of the Media Rights Institute, theDemocratic Institutions and Human Rights Public Union, the Democracy and HumanRights Resource Centre, the Azerbaijan Lawyers Association, and the Centre forNational and International Studies. To sum up, the new laws have allowed thegovernment to cut off funding of NGOs by arbitrarily freezing bank accounts oforganisations and their leaders, while making it compulsory, and practicallyimpossible, to register new grants.

However, thesituation of human rights defenders, activists and journalists in Azerbaijanhas been quickly deteriorating already since early 2011, when hundreds ofpro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets. Those were outnumbered bysecurity forces, dozens of activists were detained, as the authorities clearlyfeared an Arab Spring-like revolution. A widespread repression of civilactivists, opposition members and journalists was launched by the authorities.Ahead of the presidential elections of October 2013, the crackdown evenintensified, accompanied by new repressive laws to further stifle civilsociety. Physical attacks against opposition members, ill-treatment in prisonof human rights defenders, judicial harassment and violent repression ofdemonstrators increased.

Notably,youth activists have been intensely targeted. In March and April 2013 theauthorities arrested activists of the pro-democracy “NIDA” Civic Movement: Mr.Mammad Azizov, Mr. Bakhtiyar Guliyev, Mr. Shahin Novruzlu, Mr. RashadatAkhundov, Mr. Uzeyir Mammadli, Mr. Rashad Hasanov, Mr. Zaur Gurbanli, as wellas Ilkin Rustamzade. They were charged with “illegally obtaining,keeping or selling drugs” (under Article 234.1 of the Criminal Code), “illegallyobtaining, keeping, carrying weapons, explosives” (Article 228.1 of theCriminal Code) and later on also with “planning to organise public disorder”.They have all been sentenced to between 6 and 8 years in prison.

Thesituation of journalists is similarly dire. Mr. Hilal Mammadov, adefender of the rights of the Talysh ethnic minority and Editor-in-chief of theTolishi-Sado (Voice of Talysh) newspaper, remains in prison. Hewas arrested on June 21, 2012, and sentenced to five years in prison followingunfair proceedings lodged on the basis of spurious criminal offences relatingto “illegal selling of drugs”, “high treason”, and “incitement to national,racial, social and religious hatred and hostility”. In its November 2013opinion on the case, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that“the charges of treason and incitement to national, racial, social andreligious hatred and hostility are based on Mr. Mammadov’s legitimateexercise of the right of freedom of expression (…)” and requested his immediaterelease with compensation.

Mr. EmilHuseynov, the Head of the leading media rights NGO, Institute forReporters' Freedom andSafety, went into hiding as the offices were raided by the police on August 8,2014. Another human rights defender and journalist, Mr. Ilqar Nasibov, working for theResource Centre for Development of Democracy and NGOs in Nakhchivan City, wasbrutally attacked on August 21, 2014. Mr. Nasibov was hospitalised withmultiple fractures and injuries. At the same time a criminal case was openedagainst him by his assailant for “deliberate infliction of less serious injury”(Art. 127.1 of the Criminal Code). Before the hearing he was forbidden fromleaving the exclave of Nakhichivan, which does not allow him to get adequatemedical help and is an excessive preventive measure, which usually prohibitsdeparture from the country but not one of its regions. Mr. Nasibov's assailant,Mr. Farid Askerov, subsequently confessed guilt in the framework of a hearingand asked Mr. Nasibov for forgiveness. Charges against Mr. Nasibov were thentaken back.

At the same time, on October 17, 2014 the President ofAzerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree of amnesty, releasing 84 prisoners,including three pro-democracy activists, Messrs. Shahin Novruzlu, ElseverMursalli and Bakhtiyar Guliyev, associated with the NIDA movement, as well asMr. Hasan Huseynli, Head of the NGO “Perfect Citizen”. Back in June andJuly 2014, the three NIDA members had applied for pardon, quit NIDA, andannounced their support to the authorities of Azerbaijan.In early August, amidst mounting tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, Mr. Huseinlyissued a statement claiming that he should not be considered a politicalprisoner, that he hoped to be acquitted by the Court of Appeal and that theAzerbaijani Army and the President were “the guarantors of a strong and secureAzerbaijan”. The Observatory is concerned about the circumstances and reasonsof such actions, and strongly fears that they could have been subject to pressurein detention. Such appeals and statements are a typical instruments used by theauthorities to put pressure on activists, humiliate them and discourage othersto engage in similar civic movements.

In the light of this situation, the Observatory callsupon the authorities of Azerbaijan to:

- Guarantee the right to defence of all detained humanrights defenders by ending the deprivation of her lawyers and put an end to thepractice of depriving human rights defenders of their lawyers by calling themas witnesses of the cases;

- Guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of all detained human rights defenders, and all humanrights defenders in Azerbaijan;

- Immediately and unconditionally release all detainedhuman rights defenders, since their detentions are arbitrary and only aim atsanctioning their human rights activities;

- Put an end to any kind of harassment - including atthe judicial and investigatory levels - against all detained human rightsdefenders, and more generally all human rights defenders in Azerbaijan;

- Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nationson December 9, 1998, especially:

Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for theprotection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”;

Article 5, which underscores the right of every individualto form, join, and participate in non-governmental organizations; and

Article 12.2, which provides that the State shall“take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competentauthorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, againstany violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination,pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or herlegitimate exercise of his or her rights”;

- Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Azerbaijan.