R. Kauzlarich and D. J. Kramer Call on Washington D.C. to Impose Sanctions against State Officials in Baku

Washington D.C. /18.10.17 / Turan: The Trump Administration must use the Magnitsky Law to punish violations of human rights and corruption in Azerbaijan. This is stated in the article of former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Kauzlarich and former US Assistant Secretary of State David J. Kramer in the publication American Interest.

Torture, politically motivated criminal charges, kidnapping and other forms of intimidation are used in Azerbaijan to silence human rights defenders, independent journalists and religious leaders, and these violations cannot be ignored, said Congressman Chris Smith.

As such an example, the article refers to the case of the Turan news agency director Mehman Aliyev, who was released from arrest only after the threat of adoption of Bill 537, implying imposing sanctions against state officials of Azerbaijan,

The criminal case against Mehman Aliyev was never terminated and he remains the defendant for a falsified tax charge.

The authorities continue to harass all critics of the government. In recent weeks dozens of gay men were detained, which caused panic in the LGBT community.

Ahead of a rally against government corruption, authorities reportedly detained at least three members of the opposition Popular Front Party. And this past weekend, Turan TV journalist Fikret Huseynov, who received Dutch citizenship two years ago, was detained at Kyiv"s airport on the request of Azerbaijani authorities.

Before that, an opposition journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was kidnapped in Georgia, tortured and forcibly taken to Baku.

"Human rights defenders, independent bloggers, and journalists are under enormous pressures there, and there was a time when all of my primary partners in the country were behind bars on trumped-up charges," Nils Muiznieks, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, said on September 26.

The authors of the article urge the US Congress to pass the Smith-McGovern bill and hold large hearings on Azerbaijan.

The Trump Administration should, in accordance with the Global Magnitsky Act, impose sanctions against the Chief of Police of Baku, Mirgafar Seyidov, for torturing young activists, and impose sanctions against police officers, judges and political leaders of the country, the article says. -02D-