Human Rights Watch: Azerbaijani government shows disregard to right of peaceful protests

Baku/22.10.19/Turan: Azerbaijan police violently dispersed two peaceful protests in central Baku on October 19 and 20, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. Police rounded up dozens of peaceful opposition and civic activists, beating and roughing them up while forcing them onto buses and into police cars.

Among those detained was the leader of the opposition Popular Front Party, Ali Karimli, who sustained numerous injuries at the hands of law enforcement officers while detained for several hours. Several other detained opposition activists told Human Rights Watch that they were severely beaten in police custody.

"Once again, the Azerbaijani government has shown complete disregard for people"s right to hold peaceful protests," said Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should immediately release all protesters and investigate any allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement."

The authorities also detained at least 10 senior opposition party members ahead of the October 19 rally. Among them was a prominent opposition journalist, Seymur Hazi, who was detained on October 17 and sentenced the same day to 15 days of administrative detention. Hazi"s wife told Human Rights Watch that the circumstances of her husband"s detention and alleged offense were not clear. The family found out about the detention from the ministry"s hotline hours after he had been sentenced.

Police also dispersed several dozen women"s rights activists who gathered in the city center on October 20 to protest domestic violence. In particular the protesters wanted to highlight the recent killing of Leyla Mammadova, whose husband stabbed her to death in public, in front of her children and passersby. Police cordoned off the protest area and rounded up several activists, putting them on a bus and releasing them shortly thereafter.

While the constitution of Azerbaijan stipulates that groups may peacefully assemble after simply notifying the relevant government body in advance, in practice authorities require that gatherings obtain a permit issued by local municipalities.

Azerbaijan effectively imposes a blanket ban on protests in the central areas of Baku, which violates Azerbaijan"s international obligations to respect and protect freedom of assembly and expression, Human Rights Watch said.

Azerbaijan is a party to a number of human rights treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights, which obliges the government to respect the right of assembly and to refrain in all circumstances from engaging in prohibited ill-treatment of protesters. The government also has a duty to investigate and remedy violations.

"Although the demonstration was unsanctioned, the police should not have used force to disperse protesters who posed no threat," Gogia said. "Freedom of assembly is a fundamental right, and the Azerbaijani authorities are obligated to tolerate peaceful protests, even in Baku"s center." -02D-