Human Rights Watch on violations of rights in Azerbaijan

Baku / 17.01.20 / Turan: Human Rights Watch (HRW) released the next annual report on the human rights situation in the world.

The section on Azerbaijan says that in 2019, the country's authorities continued to restrict the rights and fundamental freedoms of people.

During this period, about 50 human rights activists, journalists, and civic activists who sharply criticized the authorities were released from prisons. However, at the same time, 30 more such critics were arrested.

The country continues to experience such phenomena as torture, inhuman treatment, violation of the right to freedom of assembly and association, restrictions on media rights and freedom of speech.

The report for each of these violations provides examples. The most brutal variant of mass violations of rights is the brutality of the police during the dispersal of a peaceful rally of activists of the Popular Front party, mass beatings, arrests and bullying of its participants.

The police harassed the journalists covering this rally, and called for interrogation of those who took part in the rallies.

The report highlights the facts of harassment of lawyers and the deprivation of their license to protect the rights of opposition members.

The arrests and harassment of opposition journalists, as well as the relatives of those who criticize authorities from abroad, are described in detail. -16D-