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  • Azerbaijan: Prominent human rights defender Leyla Yunus sentenced to

    OMCT World Organisation Against Torture
    July 31 2014


    Azerbaijan: Prominent human rights defender Leyla Yunus, IPD Director
    and a member of OMCT General Assembly, sentenced to three months
    pre-trial detention

    New information
    AZE 002 / 0414 / OBS 031.1
    Arbitrary detention / House arrest /
    Harassment
    Azerbaijan
    July 31, 2014


    The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
    programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the
    International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new
    information and requests your urgent intervention in the following
    situation in Azerbaijan.


    New information:

    The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the
    arbitrary arrest and acts of harassment of Ms. Leyla Yunus, Director
    of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and a member of OMCT
    General Assembly, and her husband, Mr. Arif Yunusov, Head of the
    Conflictology Department of IPD.

    According to the information received, on July 30, 2014, Ms. Leyla
    Yunus was travelling to a press conference in the capital of Baku when
    three men in civilian dress stopped her car and forced her driver to
    change direction; the men confiscated the cell phones of Ms. Yunus and
    the driver. Ms. Yunus was secretly driven to Department of Serious
    Crimes, where prosecutors interrogated her for six hours. It was not
    until several hours later that the Office of the Prosecutor General
    telephoned Ms. Yunus' husband and informed him that Ms. Yunus had been
    detained. Mr. Yunusov went to the Prosecutor's office and was
    subsequently interrogated and detained as well.

    Police eventually charged Ms. Yunus with "treason" (Article 274 of the
    Criminal Code), "large-scale fraud" (Article (178.3.2), "forgery"
    (Article 320), "tax evasion" (Article 213), and "illegal business"
    (Article 192); Mr. Yunusov was charged with "treason" and "fraud". The
    Court, however, never explained the basis for the charges, the
    punishments for which ranges from heavy fines to life in prison.

    The Nasimi District Court subsequently sentenced Ms. Yunus to three
    months pre-trial detention while Mr. Yunusov is under house arrest due
    to his health condition.

    The Observatory expresses its concern about the arbitrary arrest and
    harassment of Ms. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov, and calls upon the
    authorities in Azerbaijan to put an end to any kind of harassment -
    including at the judicial level - against them as it seems to only aim
    at sanctioning their activities. The Observatory is also concerned by
    Ms. Yunus' health in detention as she suffers from severe diabetes.

    Background information:

    On April 28, 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was reportedly invited as a witness
    on the criminal case of journalist Rauf Mirqadirov[1] to the
    Investigation Department of Serious Crimes of the Office of Prosecutor
    General of Azerbaijan. That evening, however, Ms. Yunus and Mr.
    Yunusov were detained at the Baku Heydar Aliyev airport where
    authorities confiscated their passports and seized a laptop and paper
    records while denying Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov the right to see their
    lawyer. They were trying to fly to Paris via Doha. An attempted search
    of the Yunus apartment later that night resulted in the
    hospitalization of Mr. Yunusov for a pre-stroke condition.

    The next morning, April 29, 2014, Mrs. Yunus was taken to the
    Investigation Department of Serious Crimes of the General Prosecutor's
    Office and interrogated for nine hours, including about joint projects
    of the IPD and Armenian NGOs as well as her relations with journalist
    Rauf Mirqadirov. During her questioning, Ms. Yunus alleged that she
    knows Mr. Mirqadirov only as a friend and good journalist. Later that
    night, police searched the offices of the IPD as well as the Yunus'
    private residence, confiscating several computers, books, and print
    materials.

    As of today, the passports of Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov have not been
    returned yet.

    Moreover, the day before her arrest, on July 29, 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus
    wrote a letter to the President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev,
    criticising the arrest of many critics of his regime and human rights
    defenders.

    Action requested:

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

    i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and
    psychological integrity of Ms. Leyla Yunus, Mr. Arif Yunusov as well
    as of all human rights defenders in Azerbaijan;

    ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Ms. Leyla Yunus from
    pre-trial detention and Mr. Yunusov from house arrest, since their
    detention is arbitrary as it only aims at sanctioning their human
    rights activities;

    iii. Remove all travel restrictions placed upon Ms. Leyla Yunus
    and Mr. Arif Yunusov;

    iv. Put an end to any kind of harassment - including at the
    judicial and investigatory levels - against Ms. Leyla Yunus, Mr. Arif
    Yunusov, her relatives and more generally against all human rights
    defenders in Azerbaijan;

    v. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human
    Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United
    Nations on December 9, 1998, especially:

    - Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right,
    individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive
    for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental
    freedoms at the national and international levels";

    - Article 5, which underscores the right of every individual to
    form, join, and participate in non-governmental organizations; and

    - Article 12.2, which provides that the State shall "take all
    necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent
    authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,
    against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure
    adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a
    consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of his or her rights";

    vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and
    fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights
    standards and international instruments 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: [email protected], [email protected]

    · Mr. Zakir Garalov, Prosecutor General of the Republic of
    Azerbaijan, Prosecutor's Office, 7 Nigar Rafibeyli St., Baku,
    Azerbaijan, Fax: (+994) 12 492 06 82, (+994) 12 492 26 63, E-mail:
    [email protected], [email protected]

    · Mr. Eldar Mahmudov, Minister of National Security, Ministry of
    National Security of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Parliament Avenue 14,
    Baku AZ1006, Azerbaijan, Fax: (+994) 12 493-76-22, E-mail:
    [email protected]

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

    · Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of
    Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, E-mail:
    [email protected]

    · Mr. Fikrat F. Mammadov, Minister of Justice in Azerbaijan,
    Inshaatchilar Prospekti, 1 Baku, Azerbaijan, e-mail:
    [email protected]; Fax (+994) 12 430 09 81

    · H.E. Mr. Murad N. Najafbayli, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of
    Azerbaijan to the United Nations in Geneva, Route des Fayards 237,
    CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland, Fax: (+41) 22 901 18 44, E-mail:
    [email protected]

    · Embassy of Azerbaijan in Brussels, Avenue Moliere 464, 1050
    Brussels, Belgium, Fax: (+32) 2 345 91 85

    Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of
    Azerbaijan in your respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic
    missions or embassies in Azerbaijan.

    ***

    Geneva-Paris, July 31, 2014

    Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
    appeal in your reply.

    The Observatory, an OMCT and FIDH venture, is dedicated to the
    protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete
    support in their time of need.


    ________________________________

    [1] Mr. Rauf Mirqadirov was deprived journalist accreditation in
    Turkey without any formal reason, deported to Azerbaijan and arrested
    on his arrival to Baku on April 19, 2014 on charges of spying for
    Armenia. This procedure permits to avoid a process of extradition and
    leaves no opportunity for appeal.

    Properties

    Date: July 31, 2014
    Activity: Human Rights Defenders
    Type: Urgent Interventions
    Country: Azerbaijan
    Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, Human RightsDefenders, Threats, intimidation and harassment

    OMCT International Secretariat
    PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
    Phone: + 41 22 809 4939
    Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
    E-mail: [email protected]

    OMCT Europe
    Rue Stevin 115
    1000 Brussels
    Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
    E-mail: [email protected]

    http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/azerbaijan/2014/07/d22777/

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