Senate briefing onAzerbaijan: Rightsabusers should face financial, travel sanctions "at a minimum"

Dinara Yunus, the daughter of Azerbaijan’s leading human rights and peace advocates who have been imprisoned in their country,brought her family’s dramatic and poignant story of sufferingfrom government-backed crackdown to Capitol Hill on Oct. 28th.

Yunus spoke at a Senate Human Rights Caucus briefing to raise awareness about rights abuses in Azerbaijan ahead of the country’s parliamentary election, which will take place later this week, TURAN’s Washington D.C. correspondent reports.

Dinara’s parents – Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunus in August were sentenced to 8 1/2 and seven years in prison, respectively, on charges of economic crimes. The couple and their supporters reject the charges and contend that it’s politically motivated in retaliation for their human rights work.

‘My parents are being tortured even in jail... They are repeatedly been subjected to humiliation and insults. They arebeing punished for their human rights work,’ Dinara told audience. ‘My mother has been beaten behind bars. I am afraid and very concerned about the physical and psychological pressure on her.’

‘I’m hopeless…I am so afraid that I will never see my parents again, and will never have a chance to say goodbye to them,’ she said.

‘Who would be responsible for my parents death? Those who put them behind bars without justiceand still let this happen,’ Dinara added asking from international community to openly call on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release her parents: ‘My parents deserve life,’ she said,‘because they protected so many lives.’

Miriam Lanskoy, director of Eurasia Programs at the National Endowment for Democracy, reminded that due to their human rights works Yunuses family have long been under pressure in Azerbaijan. Dinara had to leave the country in 2009 amid continuing threats against her parents.

In her speech Lanskoy also drew attention to the current human rights situation in Azerbaijan, which, according to the speakers, casts an even darker cloud over the upcoming elections.

Speaking about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and other security threats in the region, Lanskoy said,

‘Azerbaijan needs good relations with outside world [to protect itself.]’

‘Azerbaijani authorities would like you to believe things are great in their country, and that the parliamentary elections on November 1 will be free and fair. However, it is impossible to have free and fair elections without free press,’said Freedom House’s Tamara Grigoryeva.

‘The truth is that Azerbaijan’s free media is approaching its extinction. Over the past year, Azerbaijani authorities have shut down the office of U.S.-funded RFE/RL, and they regularly harass, kidnap and arrest employees of independent and opposition media,’ she said, mentioning the cases of Khadija Ismayilova, political columnist Rauf  Mirgadirov, Meydan TV, Azadliq newspaper and Azerbaijan Saati.

Government authorities have also intensified their crack down on bloggers and social media activists. At least 7 bloggers are currently in prison. Recently on October 16, a satirical blogger was detained and is now awaiting trial.

‘Azadliq newspaper and other independent print media are also being targeted. Azerbaijani authorities pressure newspaper distribution companies not to sell independent newspapers, and not to pay for papers that are sold. And authorities pressure businesses not to advertise in independent media.’

‘Azerbaijan is an important partner to the U.S., but a partner that gravely violates basic human rights, including the rights to free press and free speech; it can therefore not be a reliable partner,’ she said.

In his speech Richard Kauzlarich, former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan,said, as Baku still wants to be considered a strategic partner of the U.S., it should understand that, strategic partners must have shared values.

 ‘We’re told that Azerbaijan lives in a difficult neighborhood with difficult neighbors and therefore the U.S. should see Azerbaijan as a strategic partner and pay no attentions that these 90 people are in jail… However these [human rights] problems are not fault of Russia, Iran or the U.S.; they were created by the regime in Baku,’ he said adding that those who are responsible for current rights violations in Azerbaijanshould face 'financial, travel sanctions ‘at a minimum.’

Alakbar Raufoglu

Washington, D.C.