Arbitrary Detention in Azerbaijan 2014

With the rise of the Arab Spring in 2011, authoritarian governments around the world responded by rolling-back civic space; in Azerbaijan, a country situated at the crossroads of Eurasia, the government has continued to silence independent voices instead of addressing the legitimate concerns of peaceful protesters and dissidents. Now, the government in Baku has ensnared the very human rights defenders and lawyers who seek to protect the rights of others.

In July and August 2014, the Azerbaijani government arrested some of the country’s most prominent human rights defenders, including the renowned human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev and activists Rasul Jafarov and Leyla Yunus. They are now being held in pretrial detention on a barrage of criminal charges from tax evasion to treason. As the head of the Legal Education Society, a human rights organization that provides legal support to NGOs and low-income individuals, Intigam Aliyev has submitted more than 200 applications to the European Court of Human Rights in cases of election rigging, abuses of free speech, and fair trial violations.

The Court has begun addressing some of the complaints submitted by him, and he recently made a speech at the at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe openly criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities for human rights abuses and cracking down on independent NGOs. It was following these activities that Intigam was arrested on August 8th on charges of tax evasion, illegal business activities, and abuse of official power—crimes he denies ever committing. Aliyev was then sent to pre-trial detention. If the court finds Aliyev guilty of the charges, he faces up to seven years in prison.

This treatment of the human rights defenders violates a number of international treaties to which Azerbaijan is a party, as well as UN General Assembly resolutions which affirm the right of human rights defenders to undertake their important work unhindered. Azerbaijan is party to three of the major international human rights treaties: the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention Against Torture (CAT). All three treaties ban the use of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and the ECHR and ICCPR stipulate the right to a fair and public trial by an impartial tribunal.

The ECHR also prohibits the use of arbitrary detention, stating that a person may not be deprived of his liberty except through the reasons and procedures provided by established law. The ECHR authorizes pretrial detention of a suspect only on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offense, to prevent an offense, or to prevent escape after having committed an offense. Domestic Azerbaijani law complements this prohibition, providing strict guidelines for when a pretrial detention may be imposed, and requiring the consideration of less restrictive measures such as house arrest or bail.

Complementing theses international treaties, the UN General Assembly passed a Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998. The General Assembly reiterated its concerns and stances as stated in the Declaration in at least five subsequent resolutions, the most recent of which was in 2013. The Declaration was adopted by consensus in the General Assembly and therefore represents a strong commitment by States to its implementation. States are increasingly considering adopting the Declaration as a binding national legislation. The Declaration addresses the protections accorded to human rights defenders (including to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance and to form associations and NGOs), and the duties of states. Such duties include ensuring the protection of everyone against violence, threats, retaliation, adverse criminality, pressure, or other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the Declaration; promoting and facilitating the teaching of human rights; and providing an effective remedy for persons who claim to have been victims of a human rights violations.

It is not fully known the scope of political imprisonment in Azerbaijan. The most recent list compiled by local activists contains 98 individual cases. The number of recent detainees, the categorical variety of individuals, and the severity of the charges and length of prison terms are alarming. The trend began around the time of the Arab Spring movements in 2011 and continued through Baku’s hosting of the 2012 Eurovision contest, the presidential elections of 2013, and Azerbaijan’s leadership of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers this year. At each step, the Azerbaijani government has had the opportunity to embrace openness and its obligations under international law – concepts to which it claims to aspire and adhere. Instead, the government of President Ilham Aliyev has ushered in legislation aimed at closing down civil society in the country; harassed journalists, activists, and opposition leaders; and imprisoned those that call attention to this betrayal of its obligations and responsibilities.

We urge lawyers in all nations who enjoy freedom of expression to speak out against such violations. We cannot allow these prisoners of conscience to struggle alone. The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders addresses the responsibilities of not just governments, but also of us, of everyone: our duty to promote human rights and to safeguard democracy and its institutions. We must let the Azerbaijani government know that the illegal detention of prisoners of conscience is unacceptable.

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Asma Peracha, Kexin Zheng, and Janelle Pelli are law students at New York University and members of Law Students for Human Rights. They have partnered with the legal advocacy organization Freedom Now to raise awareness about the imprisonment of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan.

Uzbekistan: Free Human Rights Defender Gaybullo Jalilov & All Prisoners of Conscience

Uzbekistan's Imprisoned Human Rights Defenders. Gaybullo Jalilov, 
49, is pictured on the bottom row, 2nd to the left (black & white ).

Earlier this month, on December 10, rights activists around the world celebrated International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Although the UDHR was passed by the UN General Assembly 65 years ago, its promise remains unfulfilled in states like Uzbekistan, where the government continues to persecute its own citizens for peacefully exercising their fundamental human rights.

Among the most basic liberties protected by the UDHR is right to freedom of belief. In 1998, 50 years after the adoption of the UDHR, the United States Congress adopted the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), which made religious freedom a priority for U.S. foreign policy. At the time of its passage, former Senator Sam Brownback, a leading advocate for religious freedom and supporter of the IRFA, expressed concern about the appalling state of religious freedom worldwide and urged the U.S. government to take a more active role in promoting respect for this fundamental human right abroad. Senator Brownback was especially concerned about the widespread violations of religious freedom in Uzbekistan, where “Muslims who [did] not conform to the government-prescribed ideas [were] imprisoned and often tortured.”

Indeed, Uzbekistan continues to be among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world. The Uzbek government attempts to regulate all aspects of religious life from bans on women wearing hijab and men having beards to raiding religious gatherings and imprisoning individuals for practicing Islam outside state-sanctioned mosques. The government often charges those who practice their faith independently with religious extremism, even though at trial the prosecutors fail to present any evidence that the individuals promoted or participated in terrorist activities.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reports that there are as many as 10,000 individuals imprisoned in Uzbekistan on charges of religious extremism. Many of these individuals are also accused of “anti-constitutional activity” and are sentenced to extremely long prison terms. Once in prison, many face unsanitary conditions, a lack of basic medical care, and are often singled out for especially cruel treatment. Prison authorities commonly accuse religious prisoners of violating prison regulations, subjecting them to various punishments and longer prison sentences without any due process. Moreover, these prisoners are rendered ineligible for amnesty releases. The entire system appears designed to remove independent religious practice from society.

The case of Gaybullo Jalilov, a 49-year-old human rights defender and observant Muslim, exemplifies the fate of thousands of religious prisoners. He has been wrongly detained since September 5, 2009 on vaguely defined charges of “religious extremism” and “anti-constitutional activity.” Uzbek authorities detained Mr. Jalilov because of his work monitoring over 200 different cases of religious persecution in Uzbekistan and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. While in detention, Mr. Jalilov has suffered greatly. On one occasion, prison guards violently bludgeoned him with truncheons after he refused to sing the Uzbek national anthem, leaving him nearly deaf in both ears.

Since 2006, USCIRF has recommended that the United States designate Uzbekistan as “a country of particular concern” (CPC), a status given to countries with “systematic, ongoing and egregious” violations of religious rights. In 2011, the State Department designated Uzbekistan a CPC, which normally requires that the United States impose sanctions. However, the State Department issued a waiver for Uzbekistan, allowing the government to dodge the restrictive measures because of its key role in the Northern Distribution Network, a supply route for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Allowing Uzbekistan to escape responsibility sends the wrong message about the United States’ commitment to religious freedom. Uzbekistan and other states that systematically violate their citizens’ right to religious freedom should not get a pass. As we celebrate the adoption of the UDHR this month, the United States must recommit itself to the cause of religious freedom and hold accountable those regimes that continue ignore international law.

Gaybullo Jalilov Case (Freedom Now)

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Patrick Griffith is a Program Attorney at Freedom Now, a Washington D.C- based nongovernmental organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide. Freedom Now considers Gaybullo Jalilov to be a prisoner of conscience and advocates for his release.