Blinken met with civil society representatives of post-Soviet countries

As part of the OSCE Foreign Ministerial Council meeting in Malta today, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with civil society representatives from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Ukraine.

Azerbaijani civil society was represented at the meeting by human rights activist in political exile Emin Huseynov.

In an interview with a Turan correspondent, Huseynov said that during the meeting he spoke about the deteriorating human rights situation in Azerbaijan, the arrests of activists and journalists, and the latest detention of human rights activist Rufat Safarov.

According to Huseynov, Blinken was aware of Safarov's arrest and noted that Washington is following with concern the cases of unjustly arrested persons in Azerbaijan.

Huseynov pointed out that along with the traditional arrests of human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan, a new trend has emerged - the persecution of "anti-war activists" as well.

He noted the need to strengthen the US institutional and political support for Azerbaijani civil society both domestically and abroad. This is important for increasing the effectiveness of efforts to protect human rights and promote democratic values.

The meeting was also attended by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien.