"Legal education of Sumgait youth" published a report on violations of freedoms in Azerbaijan

Baku/25.03.20 / Turan: In 2019, there was no progress in Azerbaijan in respecting human rights and democratic freedoms. The fundamental principle of freedoms and the rule of law was violated, the authorities used violence against representatives of civil society, and the threats of the killing of objectionable politicians were recorded. There were no real steps to solve similar problems left over from previous years,” the report of the public organization“Legal education of Sumgait youth”says.

The report cites numerous facts of violence by authorities against civil society activists and democratic politicians in Azerbaijan in 2019. Illegal actions of law enforcement agencies were also recorded against the media and journalists. In 2019, a de facto ban on rallies and meetings was applied; in January-December, arrests of journalists and blockade of sites continued in the country.

Serious corruption events took place in Azerbaijan at the same time; the whole economy was distributed between officials, heads of law enforcement agencies and deputies. The Azerbaijani government has not accepted the obligations of the World Trade Organization, which allows the government not to comply with international requirements for transparency in the economy. The government refused to sign the Strategic Agreement with the European Union in May 2019, which does not allow to effectively dealing with violations of human rights and the trampling of democracy in Azerbaijan.

The report provides detailed information about political prisoners - bloggers, activists of opposition political forces, a journalist and authors of texts that are objectionable to authorities on social networks. Detailed descriptions of repressions against blogger MehmanHuseynov, journalists of AfganMukhtarly, Mustafa Hajili and others, Musavat activist Elvin Abdullazade, convicts MarifHajiyev, ShakhlarRzayev, RuslanHasanov, NizamiAramelov, NizamiAramelova report, are provided. The authors point to the political background of the condemnation of these activists. Members of their families find it difficult to communicate and meet with political prisoners. Even the chairs of the opposition parties Ali Kerimli and ArifHajili were subjected to repression.

The document contains data on the difficult conditions in the places of detention, about which the convicted journalist A. Mukhtarly spoke. The circumstances of the persecution of BayramMammadov activists released under amnesty are given. The authorities even persecute citizens who are forced to seek political asylum abroad,”draws attention to the report of the Sumgait Youth Legal Education Center.

The report provides a list of law enforcement officials who committed violent acts against convicted and detained activists.

The document ends with reports on statements of international organizations about violation of rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan and phone numbers by which you can contact the Association: +994553832878.--0--