URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
New information
AZE 002 / 0414 / OBS 031.6
Arbitrary detention / Judicial harassment / Deterioration of health while in detention
Azerbaijan
July 16, 2015
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Azerbaijan.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the beginning of the first trial against Ms. Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and a member of OMCT General Assembly, and Mr. Arif Yunusov, husband of Ms. Yunus and Head of the Conflictology Department of IPD.
According to the information received, on July 15, 2015, a pre-trial hearing was held at the Baku Grave Crimes Court. Ms. Yunus is accused of large scale fraud (Article 178.3.2), fake manufacturing or selling of official documents (Articles 320.1 and 320.2), large scale tax evasion (Article 213.2.2) and illegal business with extraction of income in large size (Article 192.2.1) while Mr. Yunusov is accused of large-scale fraud (Article 178.3.2). Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov were placed in a glass courtroom cage and the interpreter they needed (they are Russian-speaking persons and the hearing was held in Azeri) sat near the cage.
The lawyer of Ms. Leyla Yunus filed three petitions. First, to authorise the accused to sit beside her lawyer so as to ensure the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and to fully guarantee the right to be assisted by a lawyer. Secondly, the lawyer requested permission to videotape and/or record all the hearings following the principle of publicity of debates. Thirdly, because of the worrying health condition of Ms. Yunus, the lawyer requested to substitute the current imprisonment for a house arrest as provided by Article 9.3 of the United Nations International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights.
During the hearing, the lawyers of Ms. Yunus argued that her continued detention was life threatening. Ms. Yunus, who suffers from diabetes and hepatitis C, is in a critical condition (see background information) and suffers from a medical condition known as hepatomegaly - a liver enlargement and deterioration. In order to stop the process of degradation of the liver she is under heavy medication. The Observatory reiterates that its medical condition is not compatible with prison conditions and urges the authorities to opt for alternatives to pre-trial detention.
According to the same information, during the court hearing pause, Ms. Yunus denounced to the international observers present in the court room that she had been subjected to ill-treatment on four occasions during her detention. More particularly, she complained that, on June 20, 2015, she had been hit in the left eye area.
The lawyer of Mr. Arif Yunusov filed a petition requesting the authorisation for the accused to sit beside his lawyer and for all charges against him to be dropped in the absence of evidence of guilt. The lawyer denounced the poor conditions of imprisonment at the Investigative prison of the Ministry of National Security where Mr. Arif Yunusov, who suffers from insomnia high blood pressure, is being detained.
The prosecutor asked the court to reject all five petitions and the judges did so after short deliberation. The next hearing has been scheduled for July 27, 2015, in order to start the trial on the merits.
The Observatory calls upon the authorities in Azerbaijan to immediately drop all charges against Ms. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov as their detention seems to only aim at sanctioning their activities amidst a wave of increasing repression against civil society organisations and representatives in Azerbaijan. In the meantime, the Azeri authorities should urgently put an end to their pre-trial detention and change it for house detention taking into account the critical health condition of both human rights defenders.
Background information :
Ms. Leyla Yunus, has long fought for human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities in her country. She has been heading the IPD since 1995. In October 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was awarded the Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and was among the three finalists for the Sakharov Prize. She also received the distinction of “Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur” from the French government in 2013. She has worked on numerous projects relating to human rights, political persecution, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based issues and violations of the right to property. Ms. Yunus and Messrs. Intigam Aliyev and Rasul Jafarov were all members of a group compiling a list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
With her husband, Ms. Yunus has also worked towards reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two countries divided on the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ms. Leyla Yunus has been involved since 2005 in the “Track II Diplomacy” Initiative, and initiated the project of a dialogue between Azeri and Armenians, developed jointly with a regional research centre in Armenia.
On April 28, 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was reportedly invited as a witness on the criminal case against journalist Rauf Mirqadirov, columnist and press correspondent in Turkey for the independent newspaper Zerkalo, to the Investigation Department of Serious Crimes of the Office of Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan. In the evening, however, Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov were detained at the Baku Heydar Aliyev airports. The authorities seized their luggages, conducted a search without presenting them any court order, confiscated their passports and seized a laptop, a video camera, USB flash drives and paper records, while denying Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov the right to see their lawyer. Mr. Yunusov was hospitalised for a pre-stroke condition.
On April 29, 2014, after being kept awake the whole night and denied access to toilets, Ms. Yunus was interrogated in relation to the case against journalist Rauf Mirqadirov [1].
Ms. Yunus’ questioning lasted nine hours, and questions all focused on joint projects between the IPD and Armenian NGOs, as well as on her relations with journalist Rauf Mirqadirov. Following this questioning, IPD’s premises were searched and authorities seized all the computers and books belonging to Mr. Yunusov, along with printed documents, including the business card of an Armenian historian. Shortly after, IPD’s bank accounts were frozen. Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov were released.
On July 30, 2014, Ms. Yunus was arrested again by the the Prosecutor’s office employees on charges of “treason” (Article 274 of the Criminal Code), “large-scale fraud” (Article (178.3.2), “forgery” (Article 320), “tax evasion” (Article 213), and “illegal business” (Article 192) and brought to the department of grave crimes of the General Prosecutor’s Office, where she had to undergo a six-hour questioning. Informed by telephone, her husband joined her at the department of grave crimes of the General Prosecutor’s Office, where he was also questioned. Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov were both charged, and then placed in pre-trial detention. Mr. Yunusov was later placed under house arrest, and arrested again on August 5, for violation of his conditional sentence. Since that date, Mr. Arif Yunusov has been held at the Investigative Prison of the Ministry of National Security, the only remaining prison in Azerbaijan which is not subordinated to the Ministry of Justice. This situation puts him at a high risk of facing torture and ill treatment and the absence of a proper medical unit in this prison has been denounced by various international human rights bodies such as the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) or the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).
Following international criticism over the conditions of detentions, the Azeri authorities agreed for Ms. Yunus to be examined on various occasions since December 2014 by a German doctor, Christian Witt, whose official results have not been made public so far. Ms. Yunus’ lawyer, who visited her on February 8, reported that she was preoccupied over the lack of information about the doctor’s diagnosis, that she was suffering from sight problems, and that she was continuing to lose weight. Ms. Yunus, who was previously denied access to medication by the prison authorities, allegedly lost 16 kilograms since her arrest.
On October 18, 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was transferred to the Investigative Prison of the Ministry of National Security. Ms. Yunus was held there until October 24, date on which she was transferred to Kurdakhani prison.
On September 6, 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus’s cell-mate who had previously verbally harassed her and thrown plates and dishes at her, assaulted Ms. Leyla Yunus. Ms. Leyla Yunus called for help and when the staff from the prison arrived she reported the attack and asked to see the prison administration. She wrote three pages explaining the event and the previous acts of harassment conducted by her cell-mate. Moreover, she also asked for medicine since she was feeling unwell after the attack but her demand was unattended. On September 7, 2014, she was brought before Major Yagubov who announced her that a reprimand had been issued against her for knocking at the door without any reason and creating unrest inside the cell. No measure has been taken to either punish the cell-mate nor to ensure the protection of Ms. Leyla Yunus.
Ms. Leyla Yunus was later deprived of her lawyer, Mr. Javad Javadov, following his criticism of the judicial process against Ms. Leyla Yunus at an hearing on October 24, 2014. A few days later, her second lawyer, Mr. Khalid Bagirov, was also removed from the case. Moreover, her third lawyer, Mr. Alaif Hasanov, has been subjected to a lawsuit by Ms. Nuriya Huseynova - cellmate of Leyla Yunus – who accused him of passing information to the media. Mr. Alaif Hasanov was the first one to speak out about the condition and physical pressure against Ms. Leyla Yunus via her cell-mate.
On January 5, 2015 and February 2, 2015, the ECtHR communicated on two applications filed for violations of the rights of Ms. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov .
On February 18, 2015, the pre-trial detention of Ms.Yunus was extended until July 28, 2015.
On February 23, 2015, the pre-trial detention of Mr. Yunusov was extended to August 5, 2015.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities in Azerbaijan, urging them to :
i. Immediately release Ms. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov, since their detention is arbitrary and only aim at sanctioning their human rights activities ;
ii. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Leyla Yunus, Mr. Arif Yunusov and all the human rights defenders in Azerbaijan ;
iii. Carry out a prompt, effective and independent investigations into the allegations of ill treatment against Ms. Leyla Yunus ;
iv. Put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Ms. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov as well as of all human rights defenders in the country ;
v. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially :
– Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” ;
– Article 5, which underscores the right of every individual to form, join, and participate in non-governmental organizations ; and
– Article 12.2, which provides that the State shall “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of his or her rights” ;
vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Azerbaijan.
Addresses :
• Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 19 Istiqlaliyyat St., Baku AZ1066, Azerbaijan, Fax : (+994) 12 492 06 25, (+994) 412 92 28 68, E-mail : office@pa.gov.az, office@apparat.gov.az
• Mr. Zakir Garalov, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prosecutor’s Office, 7 Nigar Rafibeyli St., Baku, Azerbaijan, Fax : (+994) 12 492 06 82, (+994) 12 492 26 63, E-mail : z.qaralov@prosecutor.gov.az, info@prosecutor.gov.az
• Mr. Eldar Mahmudov, Minister of National Security, Ministry of National Security of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Parliament Avenue 14, Baku AZ1006, Azerbaijan, Fax : (+994) 12 493-76-22, E-mail : cpr@mns.gov.az
• Mr. Ramil Usubov, Minister of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijani Republic, Fax : (+994) 12 492 45 90
• Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, E-mail : katiblik@mfa.gov.az
• Mr. Fikrat F. Mammadov, Minister of Justice in Azerbaijan, Inshaatchilar Prospekti, 1 Baku, Azerbaijan, e-mail : contact@justice.gov.az ; Fax (+994) 12 430 09 81
• H.E. Mr. Murad N. Najafbayli, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in Geneva, Route des Fayards 237, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland, Fax : (+41) 22 901 18 44, E-mail : geneva@mission.mfa.gov.az
• Embassy of Azerbaijan in Brussels, Avenue Moliere 464, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax : (+32) 2 345 91 85
Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Azerbaijan in your respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in Azerbaijan.
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Geneva-Paris, July 16, 2015
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an OMCT and FIDH venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.