Zeid condemns civil society crackdown in Azerbaijan
GENEVA (8 September 2015) – The UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein condemned on Tuesday the ongoing crackdown
on civil society and independent voices in Azerbaijan.
“Despite my repeated calls to the highest State authorities,
including the President himself, undue pressure, harassment and intimidation
against journalists, human rights defenders and activists by State authorities
continue to be reported in Azerbaijan,” Zeid said.
“I call for the immediate release of all those who have been
deprived of their liberty simply for exercising their rights to freedom of
expression, association or peaceful assembly as well as for defending the
rights of others,” he added.
On 1 September 2015, journalist and human rights activist
Khadija Ismayilova was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison by the
Baku Court on Grave Crimes on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion, illegal
entrepreneurship and abuse of office. She was subjected to a smear campaign
before her arrest on 5 December 2014.
Ms. Ismayilova’s trial allegedly failed to meet
international fair trial standards, with limited public access to the hearings,
motions filed by the defence routinely rejected and inadequate time for
consultation with her lawyers.
According to reports, Ismayilova’s prosecution might have
been connected to her work. An internationally recognised investigative
journalist, Ismayilova has been reporting on human rights violations and
corruption in Azerbaijan for several years.
“Ms. Ismayilova’s sentencing is just the latest example of
the crackdown on independent voices in the country. Azerbaijani authorities
have already jailed a number of other journalists, human rights defenders and
activists, including Leyla and Arif Yunus, Intigam Aliyev, Anar Mammadli and
Rasul Jafarov, on different questionable charges,” Zeid said.
The UN Human Rights Office has received worrying reports of
the fragile and deteriorating health of several of these prisoners, he added.
“I call upon the Azerbaijani authorities to urgently release seriously ill
prisoners on humanitarian grounds.”
Zeid also urged the Government to rescind recent legislative
amendments concerning the registration and financing of associations, which
severely curtail the work of independent civil society organizations by
restricting their access to domestic and foreign funding.
ENDS
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