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Letter from the Sport for Rights Campaign, which OMCT is a member of, to the German National Olympic Committee on Azerbaijan. 'Sport for Rights' campaign has been established to raise the problem of political prisoners in the context of the forthcoming international sporting events to be hosted by Azerbaijan.

Dr Michael Vesper
Director General
German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB)
Otto-Fleck-Schneise 12
60528 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
21 May 2015
Dear Mr Vesper,
We are writing to you as members of the Sport for Rights campaign, a coalition of international organisations working to draw attention to the human rights situation in Azerbaijan in the context of next month’s European Games. As you know, the Azerbaijani authorities have been carrying out an unprecedented human rights crackdown, working aggressively to silence all forms of criticism and dissent.
We wanted to thank you for your comments on several occasions in recent months, expressing concern regarding restrictions on press freedom and repressive measures taken against journalists in Azerbaijan. We have also appreciated your willingness to engage with the human rights community on these issues, and your commitment to raising these concerns in your meetings with Azerbaijani officials.
Your comments have come at a critical time, when too many officials connected to the European Games are all too willing to turn a blind eye towards human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, and in some cases, actively help the Azerbaijani government’s attempt to whitewash its image. We have been using your remarks as a positive example, encouraging representatives from other National Olympic Committees across Europe to publicly support human rights in Azerbaijan.
We are writing to you now with an additional request. As you may know, the crackdown has resulted in the arrests of dozens of political prisoners, including eight journalists and human rights defenders. They have been targeted for their work defending the rights of others, and telling the truth about the situation in their country. We urge you to take the opportunity now, in the last few weeks before the Games, to publicly call for the release of these individuals. We have provided a list as an appendix.
Thank you once again for your attention to our issues and your support for our jailed colleagues in Azerbaijan.
Sincerely yours,
(for the signatory organisations see the pdf attached)APPENDIX: LIST OF JAILED JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Jailed journalists:
Jailed (and effectively jailed) human rights defenders:
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