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14:15 23/07/2014 ' REGION
Amnesty International starts campaign in support of Azerbaijani human
rights defender Leyla Yunus
Human rights organization Amnesty International calls everyone to address a
letter to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and to the Prosecutor
General Zakir Qaralov calling on the authorities to put an immediate stop
to the intimidation and harassment of Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif
Yunus. The call and the sample of the letter are posted on the website of
the organization.
Amnesty International notes that since 28 April 2014 the Azerbaijani
authorities have been harassing human rights defender Leyla Yunus, who is
the President of Azerbaijani NGO the Institute for Peace and Democracy.
`The authorities have regularly summoned her to the prosecutor's office and
interrogated her in connection with the criminal proceedings against an
independent Azerbaijani journalist Rauf Mirgadirov, who has been arrested
on what appear to be trumped-up charges of spying for Armenia. Leyla Yunus
had been collaborating with him on joint reconciliation projects with
Armenian NGOs,' the statement reads.
According to AI, Leyla Yunus and her husband were detained on 28 April at
the airport and the next day, officials searched the couple's home
and the office of the Institute for Peace and Democracy.
Leyla Yunus accused officials of threatening to rape her and when a
colleague of hers asked whether it was acceptable for a male police officer
to behave like that, the latter replied, `She is not a woman. She is not an
Azerbaijani woman. She is Armenian'.
AI is calling on the authorities to put an immediate stop to the harassment
of the human rights defender, to return the passports to the couple, to
start an impartial investigation and bring all those responsible to justice
who harassed and ill-treated them.
Famous Azerbaijani human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband
conflictologist Arif Yunus were detained on 28 April at Baku's airport, as
they prepared to board a flight to Doha. They were planning to fly to Paris
and then to Brussels as they were invited by the EU for participating at an
international event.
Leyla Yunus was summoned to an interrogation to the department of grave
crimes investigation of the General Prosecutor's office where she spent 9
hours. Her husband Mr. Yunus, who was detained together with her, was
hospitalized in a pre-stroke condition. Also, officials searched the
couple's home and the office of IPD.
The Human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe Nils Muižnieks, the
EU, the US State Department, the US Embassy in Azerbaijan and human rights
organizations such as the Norwegian Helsinki committee, Human Rights Watch,
Freedom House, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have
all condemned the arrest of Leyla Yunus in Baku.
Related materials
*Leyla Yunus:Azerbaijani authorities want people that are under their
control work with Armenians in people's diplomacy sphere
*
*Suit is filed against Leyla Yunus in Azerbaijan; human rights activist has
made an appeal *
*PACE Rapporteur: Human rights defenders' condition in Azerbaijan has
sharply worsened
*
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/07/23/amnesty-international/
Amnesty International starts campaign in support of Azerbaijani human
rights defender Leyla Yunus
Human rights organization Amnesty International calls everyone to address a
letter to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and to the Prosecutor
General Zakir Qaralov calling on the authorities to put an immediate stop
to the intimidation and harassment of Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif
Yunus. The call and the sample of the letter are posted on the website of
the organization.
Amnesty International notes that since 28 April 2014 the Azerbaijani
authorities have been harassing human rights defender Leyla Yunus, who is
the President of Azerbaijani NGO the Institute for Peace and Democracy.
`The authorities have regularly summoned her to the prosecutor's office and
interrogated her in connection with the criminal proceedings against an
independent Azerbaijani journalist Rauf Mirgadirov, who has been arrested
on what appear to be trumped-up charges of spying for Armenia. Leyla Yunus
had been collaborating with him on joint reconciliation projects with
Armenian NGOs,' the statement reads.
According to AI, Leyla Yunus and her husband were detained on 28 April at
the airport and the next day, officials searched the couple's home
and the office of the Institute for Peace and Democracy.
Leyla Yunus accused officials of threatening to rape her and when a
colleague of hers asked whether it was acceptable for a male police officer
to behave like that, the latter replied, `She is not a woman. She is not an
Azerbaijani woman. She is Armenian'.
AI is calling on the authorities to put an immediate stop to the harassment
of the human rights defender, to return the passports to the couple, to
start an impartial investigation and bring all those responsible to justice
who harassed and ill-treated them.
Famous Azerbaijani human rights defender Leyla Yunus and her husband
conflictologist Arif Yunus were detained on 28 April at Baku's airport, as
they prepared to board a flight to Doha. They were planning to fly to Paris
and then to Brussels as they were invited by the EU for participating at an
international event.
Leyla Yunus was summoned to an interrogation to the department of grave
crimes investigation of the General Prosecutor's office where she spent 9
hours. Her husband Mr. Yunus, who was detained together with her, was
hospitalized in a pre-stroke condition. Also, officials searched the
couple's home and the office of IPD.
The Human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe Nils Muižnieks, the
EU, the US State Department, the US Embassy in Azerbaijan and human rights
organizations such as the Norwegian Helsinki committee, Human Rights Watch,
Freedom House, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have
all condemned the arrest of Leyla Yunus in Baku.
Related materials
*Leyla Yunus:Azerbaijani authorities want people that are under their
control work with Armenians in people's diplomacy sphere
*
*Suit is filed against Leyla Yunus in Azerbaijan; human rights activist has
made an appeal *
*PACE Rapporteur: Human rights defenders' condition in Azerbaijan has
sharply worsened
*
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/07/23/amnesty-international/