NCDF calls on the US and EU to introduce targeted sanctions against Azerbaijani officials

Baku/16.11.19 / Turan: The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) issued a statement in connection with "violation of freedom of assembly, police violence and torture in Azerbaijan." “After massive police violence and torture of opposition leaders at a rally on October 19, various groups of Azerbaijani society and the international community urged the government of Ilham Aliyev to investigate these facts. However, the behavior of the Azerbaijani government over the past period showed that the authorities did not take these calls seriously, ”the statement said.

Not a single case of ill-treatment or torture on October 19 was officially investigated. At the same time, Tofig Yagublu, a member of the NCDF coordination center, who was arrested for 30 days and tortured after a rally on October 19, again faced threats of violence from an employee of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Many members of the Popular Front party arrested after the rally on October 19 were subjected to the same threats. Appeals of the arrested were not satisfied. Moreover, the two opposition leaders, including the PFPA deputy chair Seymour Khazi, were arrested from 15 to 30 days.

A member of the coordination center  of the  NCDF, a well-known lawyer, Vidadi Mirkamal, was blackmailed by a “video” compromising him.  The Facebook page of another member of the NCDF Coordination Center, Gultekin Hajibeyli,  was re-captured as a result of a cyber-attack, the data was deleted, and tens of thousands of subscribers were blocked. Authorities continued to violate freedom of assembly and did not agree on November 10 a Musavat party rally in the city, and its picket on November 12 was severely dispersed.

Despite the fact that after the rally on October 19, the European Union, the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, the Council of Europe, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and several other organizations called on official Baku to “ensure freedom of assembly”, “stop police violence” is left unattended.

The National Council calls on the people of Azerbaijan to protest publicly against mass violence and torture by the police, and the international community to take a more decisive position in order to encourage official Baku to investigate cases of violence and torture.

The National Council believes that the international community, in particular the USA and the European Union, should introduce targeted sanctions against officials who violate human rights, sanction and use torture in Azerbaijan. –06D--