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Human Rights Watch
May 2 2014
Azerbaijan: Stop Harassing Rights Defender
Hollande, Council of Europe Leadership Should Speak Out
Berlin) - Azerbaijani authorities are harassing and engaging in
oppressive tactics against a prominent human rights defender. The
Azerbaijani government should end the harassment against rights
defender Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif.
Azerbaijan's international partners, in particular fellow members of
the Council of Europe, should make clear that continued harassment of
human rights defenders, and the Yunuses in particular, will affect
their relationships with Azerbaijan's government.
"Leyla and Arif Yunus are among many people the Azerbaijani
authorities find 'inconvenient,'" said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe
and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "No government should
be allowed to get away with targeting human rights defenders while
it's seeking to boost its international prestige."
On April 28, 2014, Baku airport police prevented the couple from
leaving the country, confiscated their passports, and subjected them
to a 24-hour ordeal that led to Arif Yunus's hospitalization. The
prosecutor's office subsequently designated them as witnesses in a
treason investigation against Azerbaijani journalist and civic
activist Rauf Mirgadirov, who was deported from Turkey on April 19 and
then arrested in Baku.
The authorities should immediately return the Yunuses' passports and
stop the arbitrary interference with their freedom of movement and
right to leave their country, Human Rights Watch said. There is no
provision in Azerbaijani law to bar people who are designated
witnesses in a criminal investigation from leaving the country.
President Francois Hollande of France is scheduled to visit Azerbaijan
on May 11 and 12, and it is expected that Leyla Yunus may meet with
him when he is in Baku. In 2013 the French ambassador for human rights
awarded Yunus France's Legion of Honor award (Ordre National de la
Légion d'honneur) - the highest French decoration - for her courage
and promotion of human rights. Hollandeshould insist on seeing the
Yunuses while in Baku and make clear that their freedom, and
Mirgadirov's, is of great importance to him, and to French-Azerbaijani
relations.
On May 15, Azerbaijan will take over the rotating chairmanship of the
Council of Europe, Europe's foremost human rights body. The body's
secretary-general, Thorbjorn Jagland, should express urgent concern
about harassment of the Yunuses and the treatment of Mirgadirov, as
well as the wider crackdown on civic activists and journalists under
way for the past year in Azerbaijan, which has intensified in recent
months.
"The harassment against the Yunuses is only the latest example of the
Azerbaijani government's efforts to muzzle critics," Denber said. "The
Council of Europe's top leadership should step in immediately and say
that this conduct is utterly inappropriate for a government that is
about to take over the organization's chairmanship."
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. It has also been involved in
projects aimed at improving people-to-people dialogue between people
in Azerbaijan and Armenia, against the background of the unresolved
conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily ethnic Armenian-populated
autonomous enclave in Azerbaijan.
In the April 28 incident, airport police at about 11 p.m. stopped the
Yunuses from boarding a plane, searched their belongings, and
confiscated a laptop computer and documents. Yunus told Human Rights
Watch that the National Security Ministry and officials from the
prosecutor general's office questioned the couple at the airport,
refusing to allow their lawyer access to them.
At about 3 a.m., law enforcement agents accompanied the couple to
their apartment and attempted to search it. Because the officials
refused to show Leyla Yunus a search warrant, she refused to allow
them to enter. During the exchange at the apartment, Arif Yunus, who
had been hospitalized the week before with high blood pressure and a
heart condition, fell ill and was rushed to the hospital again. He is
in intensive care.
The next morning, after a sleepless night, Leyla Yunus was questioned
for hours at the prosecutor general's office, this time in the
presence of her lawyer. At about 4 p.m., she was released without
charge. That evening police, producing a warrant, searched her home
and her office, confiscating, among other things, books by Arif Yunus,
a book in Armenian, a photocopy of Mirgadirov's ID, and computers.
Yunus's lawyer told Human Rights Watch that all of the prosecutor's
questions related to their work on building dialogue with Armenians
and her relationship with Mirgadirov, who is facing charges of spying
for Armenia in connection with trips he made to Armenia, Georgia, and
Turkey in 2008 and 2009.
Mirgadirov had been involved in "second track diplomacy" between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. He participated in
meetings organized by nongovernmental organizations in Armenia aimed
at improving people-to-people dialogue between the conflicting sides.
The Institute for Peace and Democracy co-organized some of those
programs.
In an April 29 news article, the press service for the prosecutor
general's office said that the Yunuses were witnesses to a criminal
investigation and alleged that they had previously ignored an attempt
to be served with an interrogation summons and follow-up phone calls
asking them to appear for questioning.
Yunus's lawyer told Human Rights Watch that on April 24 an official
came to the Yunuses' home to deliver a summons to appear for
interrogation in several hours, which Leyla Yunus refused, saying she
had not received adequate notice. Another person close to the case
told Human Rights Watch that this incident had resulted in Arif
Yunus's earlier hospitalization with hypertension.
Azerbaijan has a long history of using bogus charges to imprison its
critics, including on treason charges, Human Rights Watch said.
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 ordeal the authorities subjected the Yunuses to bears all the
marks of a government getting ready to pounce on two people it has
long had in its crosshairs," Denber said. "The government needs to
back off and both President Hollande and the Council of Europe need to
make that clear."
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/01/azerbaijan-stop-harassing-rights-defender
May 2 2014
Azerbaijan: Stop Harassing Rights Defender
Hollande, Council of Europe Leadership Should Speak Out
Berlin) - Azerbaijani authorities are harassing and engaging in
oppressive tactics against a prominent human rights defender. The
Azerbaijani government should end the harassment against rights
defender Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif.
Azerbaijan's international partners, in particular fellow members of
the Council of Europe, should make clear that continued harassment of
human rights defenders, and the Yunuses in particular, will affect
their relationships with Azerbaijan's government.
"Leyla and Arif Yunus are among many people the Azerbaijani
authorities find 'inconvenient,'" said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe
and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "No government should
be allowed to get away with targeting human rights defenders while
it's seeking to boost its international prestige."
On April 28, 2014, Baku airport police prevented the couple from
leaving the country, confiscated their passports, and subjected them
to a 24-hour ordeal that led to Arif Yunus's hospitalization. The
prosecutor's office subsequently designated them as witnesses in a
treason investigation against Azerbaijani journalist and civic
activist Rauf Mirgadirov, who was deported from Turkey on April 19 and
then arrested in Baku.
The authorities should immediately return the Yunuses' passports and
stop the arbitrary interference with their freedom of movement and
right to leave their country, Human Rights Watch said. There is no
provision in Azerbaijani law to bar people who are designated
witnesses in a criminal investigation from leaving the country.
President Francois Hollande of France is scheduled to visit Azerbaijan
on May 11 and 12, and it is expected that Leyla Yunus may meet with
him when he is in Baku. In 2013 the French ambassador for human rights
awarded Yunus France's Legion of Honor award (Ordre National de la
Légion d'honneur) - the highest French decoration - for her courage
and promotion of human rights. Hollandeshould insist on seeing the
Yunuses while in Baku and make clear that their freedom, and
Mirgadirov's, is of great importance to him, and to French-Azerbaijani
relations.
On May 15, Azerbaijan will take over the rotating chairmanship of the
Council of Europe, Europe's foremost human rights body. The body's
secretary-general, Thorbjorn Jagland, should express urgent concern
about harassment of the Yunuses and the treatment of Mirgadirov, as
well as the wider crackdown on civic activists and journalists under
way for the past year in Azerbaijan, which has intensified in recent
months.
"The harassment against the Yunuses is only the latest example of the
Azerbaijani government's efforts to muzzle critics," Denber said. "The
Council of Europe's top leadership should step in immediately and say
that this conduct is utterly inappropriate for a government that is
about to take over the organization's chairmanship."
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. It has also been involved in
projects aimed at improving people-to-people dialogue between people
in Azerbaijan and Armenia, against the background of the unresolved
conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily ethnic Armenian-populated
autonomous enclave in Azerbaijan.
In the April 28 incident, airport police at about 11 p.m. stopped the
Yunuses from boarding a plane, searched their belongings, and
confiscated a laptop computer and documents. Yunus told Human Rights
Watch that the National Security Ministry and officials from the
prosecutor general's office questioned the couple at the airport,
refusing to allow their lawyer access to them.
At about 3 a.m., law enforcement agents accompanied the couple to
their apartment and attempted to search it. Because the officials
refused to show Leyla Yunus a search warrant, she refused to allow
them to enter. During the exchange at the apartment, Arif Yunus, who
had been hospitalized the week before with high blood pressure and a
heart condition, fell ill and was rushed to the hospital again. He is
in intensive care.
The next morning, after a sleepless night, Leyla Yunus was questioned
for hours at the prosecutor general's office, this time in the
presence of her lawyer. At about 4 p.m., she was released without
charge. That evening police, producing a warrant, searched her home
and her office, confiscating, among other things, books by Arif Yunus,
a book in Armenian, a photocopy of Mirgadirov's ID, and computers.
Yunus's lawyer told Human Rights Watch that all of the prosecutor's
questions related to their work on building dialogue with Armenians
and her relationship with Mirgadirov, who is facing charges of spying
for Armenia in connection with trips he made to Armenia, Georgia, and
Turkey in 2008 and 2009.
Mirgadirov had been involved in "second track diplomacy" between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. He participated in
meetings organized by nongovernmental organizations in Armenia aimed
at improving people-to-people dialogue between the conflicting sides.
The Institute for Peace and Democracy co-organized some of those
programs.
In an April 29 news article, the press service for the prosecutor
general's office said that the Yunuses were witnesses to a criminal
investigation and alleged that they had previously ignored an attempt
to be served with an interrogation summons and follow-up phone calls
asking them to appear for questioning.
Yunus's lawyer told Human Rights Watch that on April 24 an official
came to the Yunuses' home to deliver a summons to appear for
interrogation in several hours, which Leyla Yunus refused, saying she
had not received adequate notice. Another person close to the case
told Human Rights Watch that this incident had resulted in Arif
Yunus's earlier hospitalization with hypertension.
Azerbaijan has a long history of using bogus charges to imprison its
critics, including on treason charges, Human Rights Watch said.
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 ordeal the authorities subjected the Yunuses to bears all the
marks of a government getting ready to pounce on two people it has
long had in its crosshairs," Denber said. "The government needs to
back off and both President Hollande and the Council of Europe need to
make that clear."
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/01/azerbaijan-stop-harassing-rights-defender