Activists, rights groups object to Azeri sponsored Hanukkah party at Trump hotel

"Jewish leaders! Perform the Mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyim." Jared Genser's sign read, using a Hebrew phrase [meaning: "The redemption of captives"] which is considered an important commandment in the Jewish Law Halakha.

The aim of this "Mitzvah", is to bring about the release of any Jewish child held captive by gentiles. The Mitzvah carries a great humanitarian value in the framework of functional community life.

But for Genser, a Jewish-American, who is the founder of Freedom Now, a nonprofit organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide, this sign also carried  a clear message to the leaders of major American Jewish organizations that hosted a Hanukkah party sponsored by the Azeri Embassy at President-elect Donald Trump’s Washington hotel last night:  "Urge Azerbaijan to release political prisoners!"

Azerbaijan, he told TURAN's Washington correspondent, has long been trying to promote itself as a peaceful secular Muslim nation, an ally of Israel and the West. However, religious freedom is tightly controlled by the Aliyev government.  "Activists who protest the government’s religion policy are often arrested and given lengthy prison terms based on false charges."

Genser and his team at Freedom Now organized a rally gathering a number of human rights defenders and Azeri activists in front of the Trump hotel last night to object the Hanukkah party.

For Jews, he said, Hanukkah is a celebration of religious freedom and diversity, while for the Azerbaijani government it is likely just another attempt to portray itself as a stable, Western-facing democracy, an image designed to direct public attention away from its repeated human rights abuses and systemic corruption.

"Not only has the Azerbaijani government repeatedly imprisoned its critics and opponents, it has accelerated its repressive tactics over the past few months by placing greater restrictions on freedom of expression and religion," he said.

Speaking at the rally, Catherine Cosman, senior policy analyst with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, drew attention to the fact that over half of the political prisoners in Azerbaijan are "in jails because of their religious believes" while overwhelmingly majority of them are Muslim.

"Many people who are currently on trial with regard to the Nardaran events of last year have been horribly tortured in prison," she said.

The protest lasted for more than an hour while Jewish leaders along with some Azeri Embassy staffers [including Ambassador Elin Suleymanov] held a Hanukkah reception inside the hotel.

A.Raufoglu

Washington. D.C.