Since July 30, 2014, my friend and sister activist Leyla Yunus has been unjustly detained by the Azerbaijani government. Her husband, historian Arif Yunus, was arrested and imprisoned six days later. They both remain behind bars, on trumped up charges of treason. Their arrests are part of the deliberate and concerted effort to intimidate and silence civil society activists and organizations who are critical of the Azerbaijani government.
Leyla is a leading civil society activist and outspoken advocate for rule of law, democracy, disarmament, and peace. As the founder of the Peace and Democracy Institute in Baku, Azerbaijan, she has also been a tireless defender of women’s rights and freedom for political prisoners in Azerbaijan, earning her a nomination for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. Because of her staunch refusal to be intimidated into silence, she now is a political prisoner herself.
I have known Leyla since the early days of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, when she was a lead spokesperson and activist in the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines and we worked together, along with other campaigners around the world, and achieved the 1997 treaty that banned antipersonnel landmines. I recognized in her a fierce commitment to promoting human rights and democracy in her country and remain proud to call her a friend.
And now, some twenty years later, I am part of the growing chorus of peace activists and human rights defenders who are raising our voices calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Leyla and her husband along with other political prisoners detained by the government of Azerbaijan.
We are all deeply concerned by reports of Leyla and Arif’s deteriorating health. As Leyla’s illness progresses, the stakes only grow higher for her release. I refuse to stand idly by knowing that the prosecutor’s office is denying Leyla access to lifesaving medical care. The Azerbaijani government must assume full responsibility for Leyla and Arif’s safety and wellbeing while imprisoned.
We all will continue to speak out for truth and justice and highlight the injustices faced by Leyla, Arif and their fellow political prisoners. All who work defending human rights know that shining a bright spotlight on governments that wantonly violate the rights of their citizens is key to protecting human rights defenders and political prisoners. I join with all the other voices that call for the immediate release of Leyla, Arif and other political prisoners of the Azerbaijani government.
Nobel Women Initiative
Jody Williams, a Nobel Laureate
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