Arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Anar Mammadli, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS)

Arbitrarydetention / Judicial harassment

Azerbaijan

December20, 2013

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Azerbaijan.

Brief description of the situation

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary arrest anddetention of Mr. Anar Mammadli, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Election Monitoring and Democracy StudiesCentre (EMDS), a not-for-profit organisation that carries out independentelection monitoring since 2001 and documented electoral irregularities duringthe presidential elections of October 9, 2013.

According to the information received, onDecember 16, 2013, Mr. Anar Mammadli, Mr. BashirSuleimanly, EMDS Executive Director, and Mr. Elnur Mammedov, leader of the Public Association for InternationalCooperation Volunteers (PAICV), were summonsed to appear before the InvestigationDepartment of the Prosecutor General for Serious Crimes in Azerbaijan forinterrogation in relation to an investigation opened on October 27 by the samedepartment against the EMDS (see below). Later the sameday, Mr. Anar Mammadli was brought before the Nasimi District Court of Baku,where he was ordered to be held in pre-trial detention for a period of threemonths for violating Article192.2.2 and Article 308.2 of the Criminal Code (see below). The two others werereleased. Mr. Mammadli was not given the opportunity to call his own lawyer andwas represented by a lawyer appointed by the court. On December 17, 2013, hecould finally contact his lawyer, who has now lodged a complaint regarding hisarrest. In the week of December 23, 2013, the court will decide whether Mr.Mammadli will be released until the next hearing in his case. The date of thishearing is still unknown. In the meantime Mr. Mammadli remains in the Pre-TrialDetention Centre No. 1 in Baku.

EMDS was de-registered in 2008, but hascontinued its work. Mr. Anar Mammadli's and EMDS became a target of theProsecutor in the aftermath of the presidential elections of October 9, 2013,as EMDS published a report on electoral irregularities. On October 31, 2013,during a search conducted in the EMDS offices, print materials, press releases,reports, and financial documents were confiscated, as well as two computers.Since then, Mr. Mammadli, along with EMDS, has been put under investigation for“tax evasion”, “illegal business activity”, and “abuse of authority”. Duringthe questioning, members of EMDS were told that the suspicions relate to thereceipt of a large amount of foreign funding. Authoritiesallege that Mr. Mammadli is inviolation of Article 192.2.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan - prohibitionof “'business activity by an organised group without registration in the orderprovided by the legislation of the Azerbaijan Republic”, punishable by up tofive years' imprisonment. However, this provision applies only to commercialenterprises and not to not-for-profit organisations like EMDS. Mr. Mammadliwould also be prosecuted under Article 308.2 of the Criminal Code, allegedlyfor intending to influence the election results. In this framework, onNovember 26, 2013, Mr. Anar Mammadli and four other staff members of EMDS cancelledtheir plans to attend the EU East Partnership Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, inorder to respect the prohibition on leaving the country during theirinvestigation.

TheObservatory notes that since its de-registration, EMDS has applied on numerousoccasions for its re-registration, but the authorities systematically deniedits requests, thus placing the NGO in a vulnerable situation. The EMDS has lodged an application with the European Court of HumanRights challenging this situation.

TheObservatory firmly condemns the arbitrary arrest and pre-trial detention of Mr. Anar Mammadli and considers itanother in the series of efforts aimed at preventing the documentation,reporting, and critical assessment of irregularities in electoral processes,especially the presidential elections of October 9, 2013.

The Observatory therefore calls on theAzerbaijani authorities toimmediately and unconditionally release Mr. Anar Mammadli, to allow the EMDSto register and to stop interfering in its work.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Azerbaijan, urging them to:

i. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Anar Mammadli as well as of all humanrights defenders in Azerbaijan;

ii. ReleaseMr. Anar Mammadli immediatelyand unconditionally as his detention is arbitrary since it only aims atsanctioning his human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to any kind of harassment - including atthe judicial level - against Mr. Mammadli andmore generally against all human rights defenders in Azerbaijan andensure in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their work withoutunjustified hindrances;

iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nationson December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone hasthe right, individually and in association with others, to promote and tostrive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamentalfreedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as its Article12.2, which provides that the State shall “take all necessary measures toensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individuallyand in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, defacto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actionas a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of his or her rights”;

v. Ensurein all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Azerbaijan.

Addresses:

· Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan,Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 19 Istiqlaliyyat St.,Baku AZ1066, Azerbaijan, Fax: (+994) 12 492 06 25, (+994) 412 92 28 68, E-mail:office@pa.gov.az, office@apparat.gov.az

· Prosecutor’s Office, 7 Nigar Rafibeyli St., Baku,Azerbaijan, Fax: (+994) 12 492 06 82, (+994) 12 492 26 63, E-mail: eldar_sultanov@prosecutor.gov.az

· Mr.Ramil Usubov, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijani Republic, Fax:(+994) 12 492 45 90

· Mr.Fikrat F. Mammadov, Minister of Justice in Azerbaijan, InshaatchilarProspekti, 1 Baku, Azerbaijan, e-mail: contact@justice.gov.az; Fax (+994) 12 430 09 81

· Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations inGeneva, Route des Fayards 237,CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland, E-mail: geneva@mission.mfa.gov.az Fax: (+41) 22 901 18 44

· AzerbaijaniEmbassy in Brussels, Avenue Moliere, 464, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: (+32) 2345 91 85

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Azerbaijan in yourrespective country as well as to the EUdiplomatic missions or embassies in Azerbaijan.

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Paris-Geneva, December 20, 2013

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of HumanRights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.

Tocontact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
• Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 143 55 18 80
  
• Tel and fax OMCT + 41(0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29