Council of Europe Concerned over Persecution of LGBT Representatives in Azerbaijan

Baku / 01.10.17 / Turan: The Council of Europe is concerned about the persecution of LGBT by the police in Azerbaijan. This is stated by Daniel Holtgen, official representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, circulated on Sunday evening.

"We are very concerned by reports from Azerbaijan alleging mistreatment of LGBT persons by police. Discrimination of minorities, sexual or other, is against the European Convention of Human Rights. LGBT persons have no special rights under the Convention; they have the same rights as anyone else. Azerbaijan should ensure these rights are respected and the reported mistreatment cases are thoroughly investigated. We are following developments closely," the statement said.

According to local human rights activists and LGBT activists, about 100 homosexuals and transgender people were detained during police raids in mid-September.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said the detentions were carried out as part of the fight against prostitution, and no violent actions were allowed.

However, civil society activists and the LGBT community stated that most of the detainees were not sex workers. According to them, the detainees were subjected to insults and physical pressure and were forced to give information about their familiar representatives of sexual minorities, who were also brought to the police. Some of the detainees were released after they were fined. However, 61 people were sentenced to administrative arrest for a period of 10 to 30 days on charges of not submitting to the police. In the courts, they were without lawyers.

Currently, their rights are protected by two groups of lawyers consisting of five and two defenders. Decisions on their arrests have been appealed. -06D--