Azerbaijan: Sport For Rights: Joint Statement: Renewed Human Rights Crackdown Ahead of Referendum
Sport
for Rights' campaign, of which OMCT is member, has been established to
raise the problem of political prisoners in the context of the
forthcoming international sporting events to be hosted by Azerbaijan.

18 August 2016. Less
than six weeks ahead of a constitutional referendum, the Azerbaijani
authorities have unleashed a new wave of repression to silence critical
voices. The undersigned members of the Sport for Rights coalition
condemn this renewed crackdown, and call on the Azerbaijani authorities
to take immediate steps to improve the human rights situation in the
country, starting with the release of political prisoners.
On 12 August, prominent Azerbaijani economist and Executive Secretary of the opposition Republican Alternative (REAL) movement Natig Jafarli was
arrested on charges of illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of power, and
sentenced to four months of pre-trial detention. On 17 August, the
Court of Appeals rejected the appeal for his release. According to Sport
for Rights member the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety,
Jafarli has been locked up for his “peaceful criticism” of the country’s
upcoming constitutional referendum. The charges against Jafarli stem
from a criminal case the Prosecutor General’s Office launched against
a group of NGOs in 2014. If convicted, Jafarli may face up to
eight years of imprisonment.
On 13 August, NIDA civic movement activist Elgiz Gahraman
was arrested, held incommunicado over the weekend, charged on 15 August
with drug possession, and sentenced to four months’
pre-trial detention. Also on 15 August, REAL movement youth activists Elshan Gasimov and Togrul Ismayilov
were arrested and sentenced to seven days of administrative detention
each on charges of resisting police. Authorities also harassed
civic activist and former political prisoner Bakhtiyar Hajiyev,
calling him in for questioning and then subjecting him to a court
hearing that dragged out over three days, before fining him 100 AZN on
charges of “minor hooliganism”.
Sport for Rights considers
the charges against Jafarli, Gahraman, and the other activists to be
politically motivated, and calls for their immediate and unconditional
release, along with the release of all of Azerbaijan’s dozens of
political prisoners - including opposition REAL movement leader Ilgar Mammadov, whose release has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights; journalist Seymur Hezi; and youth activists Ilkin Rustemzade, Giyas Ibrahimov, and Bayram Mammadov.
This
spate of repression takes place in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s latest
mega event, the Formula One European Grand Prix, held in Baku in June.
It also takes place on the eve of a constitutional referendum set for 26
September, which will decide a series of problematic amendments aimed
at further consolidating power in Azerbaijan’s already dominant
presidency. The Azerbaijani government’s proposal of these amendments
immediately followed July’s coup attempt in Turkey.
Events in
Turkey have played a further role in Azerbaijan’s renewed crackdown. On
15 August, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office announced it had
opened a criminal case against supporters of the Turkish Gulen movement
“to prevent illegal actions on the territory of Azerbaijan”. Detained
NIDA civic movement activist Elgiz Gahraman was linked to the Gulen
movement in an article in the pro-governmental press that also targeted
figures of the opposition Popular Front Party and the satellite
Azerbaycan Saatı (“Azerbaijan Hour”) programme, signalling possible
further pressure to come. On 17 August, the Caucasus University in Baku
announced it had fired 50 Turkish instructors for alleged links with the
Gulen movement.
Broadcast of Azerbaijan Saatı was stopped on 27
July when Turkish television station Barış TV, which carried
the programme, was among the media outlets shut down by a presidential
decree in Turkey, alleging their connection to the Gulen movement. The
transmission of another rare critical news source on developments in
Azerbaijan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s programme Azadlıq
(“Freedom”) A-LIVE, was halted without explanation by Türksat satellite
on 8 August. In Azerbaijan, private national television station ANS TV
remains off the air following a court order on 29 July to revoke the
station’s license in connection with an interview it had planned
to broadcast with Fethullah Gulen.
All of this occurs against
the backdrop of a dire overall human rights situation in Azerbaijan. The
media remains completely dominated by the state, and critical
journalists operate in a climate of fear. Excessive restrictions remain
on civil society, severely hindering the ability of independent NGOs to
operate. Travel bans continue to be used against journalists, activists,
and politicians – including journalists Khadija Ismayilova, whose appeal to lift her travel ban was denied on 15 August, and Elchin Mammad, who was detained when trying to cross the Azerbaijani border on 9 August.
The
Sport for Rights coalition calls for the Azerbaijani authorities to
immediately cease these gross and systemic violations and take steps to
improve the human rights situation in the country, starting with the
immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners held for
their peaceful political activities or exercise of their right
to freedom of expression. Sport for Rights further calls for sustained
attention to Azerbaijan by the international community, and concrete
action to hold the Azerbaijani government accountable for its human
rights obligations.
Supporting organisations:
ARTICLE 19
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Civil Rights Defenders
Freedom House
Freedom Now
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Human Rights House Foundation
Index on Censorship
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Media Support
International Partnership for Human Rights
Netherlands Helsinki Committee
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
PEN America
PEN International
People in Need
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)