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Human Rights Watch
July 31 2014
Azerbaijan: Leading Rights Defender Arrested
Release Leyla Yunus Immediately; Drop Bogus Charges Against Her and Her Husband
(Berlin) - Azerbaijani authorities should immediately secure the
release of leading human rights defender Leyla Yunus from pretrial
custody, and drop the politically motivated charges against her and
her husband Arif Yunus. The authorities should also end their ongoing
harassment against the couple.
"The context leading up to these recent charges, including the
harassment they have endured over the past four months, make it clear
that the charges against Leyla and Arif Yunus are bogus and intended
to silence them," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should immediately
end this campaign of intimidation against Azerbaijan's leading human
rights defenders and allow them to work unimpeded."
Azerbaijan's international partners, including the Council of Europe
leadership and its member countries, should make clear that continued
harassment of human rights defenders, and the Yunuses in particular,
will have direct effects on their relationships with Azerbaijan's
government.
Leyla Yunus is the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy,
a human rights group formed in 1995 that has focused on combating
politically motivated prosecutions, corruption, violence against
women, and unlawful house evictions. The organization has also been
involved in projects aimed at improving people-to-people dialogue
between intellectuals and community leaders in Azerbaijan and Armenia,
against the background of the unresolved conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh,
the autonomous enclave in Azerbaijan primarily populated by ethnic
Armenians.
On July 30, 2014, at about 11:45 a.m., representatives of the Grave
Crimes Investigation Unit of the General Prosecutor's Office, detained
Leyla Yunus on her way to a conference at a partner organization's
office and drove her to the general prosecutor's office, Arif Yunus
told Human Rights Watch.
Shortly thereafter, about six men in civilian clothes rang the bell at
the Yunus's residence. Arif Yunus refused to open the door until he
could summon his lawyer, but by the time his lawyer arrived, the men
were gone. Yunus decided to turn himself in to the general
prosecutor's office and arrived there with his lawyer shortly after 1
p.m.
Yunus told Human Rights Watch that he and his wife were accused of
spying for the Armenian secret services and interrogated in separate
rooms. He said that they chose to remain silent and not to respond to
any questions because the charges were so humiliating and absurd.
The investigators claimed that the Yunuses have used foreign grant
money to recruit Azerbaijani citizens to participate in second-track
diplomacy efforts over the unresolved conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh,
and used this as a cover for espionage.
Investigators also claimed that the couple operated an unregistered
nongovernmental organization and failed to pay taxes on grants they
received. While it is true that the Institute for Peace and Democracy
is not registered, the authorities make it almost impossible for human
rights organizations in Azerbaijan to register.
After six hours of interrogation, the prosecutor's office pressed
charges against both Leyla and Arif Yunus. Criminal charges against
Leyla Yunus include treason (criminal code article 274), fraud causing
large damages (article 178.3.2), illegal entrepreneurship by an
organized group (article 192.2.2), tax evasion (article 213), and
falsifying official documents (article 320). Arif Yunus was charged
with treason and fraud.
For health considerations, the authorities released Arif Yunus under
house arrest and police supervision, while Baku's Nasimi District
Court sent Leyla Yunus directly from the courtroom to pretrial custody
for three months. Arif Yunus told Human Rights Watch that his wife
suffers from severe diabetes and requires special meals at certain
intervals. He said he feared the authorities would not provide her
with adequate care in detention.
"This arrest and the charges have been in the making for some months
now and appear to be in retaliation for the Yunuses human rights work
and their outspoken criticism of the authorities," Denber said. "The
authorities should immediately release Leyla Yunus from pretrial
detention and drop the charges in the absence of any credible evidence
that they are justifiable."
On April 28, Baku airport police prevented the couple from leaving the
country, confiscated their passports, and subjected them to a 24-hour
ordeal of interrogations and house searches that led to Arif Yunus's
hospitalization with hypertension. The prosecutor's office
subsequently designated them witnesses in a treason investigation
against an Azerbaijani journalist and civil society activist, Rauf
Mirgadirov, who was deported from Turkey on April 19 and then arrested
in Baku.
Since then the authorities have repeatedly summoned the couple for
interrogations. However, the Yunuses have refused to cooperate with
the investigation until their passports are returned and their freedom
of movement restored. Arif Yunus said he believed an open letter Leyla
Yunus sent to the president of Azerbaijan a day earlier about the
arrests of youth activists, entitled "What Are You Afraid of, Mr.
President?" infuriated the authorities and possibly led to her
detention.
Azerbaijan has a long history of using bogus charges to imprison its
critics, including on treason charges, Human Rights Watch said. In the
past two years, Azerbaijani authorities have brought or threatened
unfounded criminal charges against over 40 political activists,
journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders, most of whom are
behind bars.
In August 2011, violating a court injunction, the Baku authorities
demolished without warning a building owned by Leyla Yunus as part of
a government land clearance to make way for a park and business area.
The building housed the Institute for Peace and Democracy and two
other human rights groups. Yunus had repeatedly criticized the
government's redevelopment plans for the area.
The crackdown on critical voices continued even as, on May 15,
Azerbaijan took over the rotating chairmanship of the Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe, Europe's foremost human rights
body.
"Azerbaijan takes pride in chairing this important regional
institution, yet routinely violates the very values and rights
protections on which it is built and for which it exists," Denber
said. "The least Azerbaijan's partners in the Council of Europe can
now do is to urge the government to release Leyla Yunus from pretrial
custody and end its escalating persecution of government critics."
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/31/azerbaijan-leading-rights-defender-arrested
July 31 2014
Azerbaijan: Leading Rights Defender Arrested
Release Leyla Yunus Immediately; Drop Bogus Charges Against Her and Her Husband
(Berlin) - Azerbaijani authorities should immediately secure the
release of leading human rights defender Leyla Yunus from pretrial
custody, and drop the politically motivated charges against her and
her husband Arif Yunus. The authorities should also end their ongoing
harassment against the couple.
"The context leading up to these recent charges, including the
harassment they have endured over the past four months, make it clear
that the charges against Leyla and Arif Yunus are bogus and intended
to silence them," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should immediately
end this campaign of intimidation against Azerbaijan's leading human
rights defenders and allow them to work unimpeded."
Azerbaijan's international partners, including the Council of Europe
leadership and its member countries, should make clear that continued
harassment of human rights defenders, and the Yunuses in particular,
will have direct effects on their relationships with Azerbaijan's
government.
Leyla Yunus is the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy,
a human rights group formed in 1995 that has focused on combating
politically motivated prosecutions, corruption, violence against
women, and unlawful house evictions. The organization has also been
involved in projects aimed at improving people-to-people dialogue
between intellectuals and community leaders in Azerbaijan and Armenia,
against the background of the unresolved conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh,
the autonomous enclave in Azerbaijan primarily populated by ethnic
Armenians.
On July 30, 2014, at about 11:45 a.m., representatives of the Grave
Crimes Investigation Unit of the General Prosecutor's Office, detained
Leyla Yunus on her way to a conference at a partner organization's
office and drove her to the general prosecutor's office, Arif Yunus
told Human Rights Watch.
Shortly thereafter, about six men in civilian clothes rang the bell at
the Yunus's residence. Arif Yunus refused to open the door until he
could summon his lawyer, but by the time his lawyer arrived, the men
were gone. Yunus decided to turn himself in to the general
prosecutor's office and arrived there with his lawyer shortly after 1
p.m.
Yunus told Human Rights Watch that he and his wife were accused of
spying for the Armenian secret services and interrogated in separate
rooms. He said that they chose to remain silent and not to respond to
any questions because the charges were so humiliating and absurd.
The investigators claimed that the Yunuses have used foreign grant
money to recruit Azerbaijani citizens to participate in second-track
diplomacy efforts over the unresolved conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh,
and used this as a cover for espionage.
Investigators also claimed that the couple operated an unregistered
nongovernmental organization and failed to pay taxes on grants they
received. While it is true that the Institute for Peace and Democracy
is not registered, the authorities make it almost impossible for human
rights organizations in Azerbaijan to register.
After six hours of interrogation, the prosecutor's office pressed
charges against both Leyla and Arif Yunus. Criminal charges against
Leyla Yunus include treason (criminal code article 274), fraud causing
large damages (article 178.3.2), illegal entrepreneurship by an
organized group (article 192.2.2), tax evasion (article 213), and
falsifying official documents (article 320). Arif Yunus was charged
with treason and fraud.
For health considerations, the authorities released Arif Yunus under
house arrest and police supervision, while Baku's Nasimi District
Court sent Leyla Yunus directly from the courtroom to pretrial custody
for three months. Arif Yunus told Human Rights Watch that his wife
suffers from severe diabetes and requires special meals at certain
intervals. He said he feared the authorities would not provide her
with adequate care in detention.
"This arrest and the charges have been in the making for some months
now and appear to be in retaliation for the Yunuses human rights work
and their outspoken criticism of the authorities," Denber said. "The
authorities should immediately release Leyla Yunus from pretrial
detention and drop the charges in the absence of any credible evidence
that they are justifiable."
On April 28, Baku airport police prevented the couple from leaving the
country, confiscated their passports, and subjected them to a 24-hour
ordeal of interrogations and house searches that led to Arif Yunus's
hospitalization with hypertension. The prosecutor's office
subsequently designated them witnesses in a treason investigation
against an Azerbaijani journalist and civil society activist, Rauf
Mirgadirov, who was deported from Turkey on April 19 and then arrested
in Baku.
Since then the authorities have repeatedly summoned the couple for
interrogations. However, the Yunuses have refused to cooperate with
the investigation until their passports are returned and their freedom
of movement restored. Arif Yunus said he believed an open letter Leyla
Yunus sent to the president of Azerbaijan a day earlier about the
arrests of youth activists, entitled "What Are You Afraid of, Mr.
President?" infuriated the authorities and possibly led to her
detention.
Azerbaijan has a long history of using bogus charges to imprison its
critics, including on treason charges, Human Rights Watch said. In the
past two years, Azerbaijani authorities have brought or threatened
unfounded criminal charges against over 40 political activists,
journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders, most of whom are
behind bars.
In August 2011, violating a court injunction, the Baku authorities
demolished without warning a building owned by Leyla Yunus as part of
a government land clearance to make way for a park and business area.
The building housed the Institute for Peace and Democracy and two
other human rights groups. Yunus had repeatedly criticized the
government's redevelopment plans for the area.
The crackdown on critical voices continued even as, on May 15,
Azerbaijan took over the rotating chairmanship of the Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe, Europe's foremost human rights
body.
"Azerbaijan takes pride in chairing this important regional
institution, yet routinely violates the very values and rights
protections on which it is built and for which it exists," Denber
said. "The least Azerbaijan's partners in the Council of Europe can
now do is to urge the government to release Leyla Yunus from pretrial
custody and end its escalating persecution of government critics."
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/31/azerbaijan-leading-rights-defender-arrested