Journalist Rasim Aliyev murdered as human rights crackdown continues in aftermath of European Games

Azerbaijan: JournalistRasim Aliyev murdered as human rights crackdown continues in aftermath ofEuropean Games

The Sport for Rights coalition resolutelycondemns the brutal murder of Azerbaijani journalist Rasim Aliyev, whodied on 9 August in a Baku hospital, after he was severely beaten on 8 Augustby a group of people. Rasim Aliyev had reported receiving continuous threatsand intimidation via social media networks for three weeks leading up to hisdeath.

Azerbaijani authorities have launched aninvestigation into the attack and detained at least one individual so far.Officials are connecting the attack to a Facebook post from 3 August in whichRasim Aliyev had criticised a football player,. The relatives of the footballplayers are alleged to have been responsible for the beating.

However, prior to the Facebook post inquestion, Rasim Aliyev had already been receiving threatening messagesconnected to a series of photos he had posted online showing police brutalityand social discontent, such as protesters carrying a banner reading “Resign”.Rasim Aliyev reported receiving a threat stating “You will be punished forthese photos”. He publicised the threat on 25 July, and filed a complaint withthe police, who failed to take action to protect Rasim Aliyev.

Rasim Aliyev was a board member and employee ofAzerbaijan’s leading media freedom organisation, the Institute for Reporters’Freedom and Safety (IRFS), and was elected as the organisation’s chairman inOctober 2014. Rasim Aliyev had faced many forms of pressure in his work withIRFS, including being beaten by police in a 2013 incident that was captured ina widely circulated photograph.

Notably, the attack against Rasim Aliyev tookplace exactly one year from the date IRFS was forcibly closed by theAzerbaijani authorities and IRFS founder and chairman Emin Huseynov wasforced into hiding to ensure his own safety, on 8 August 2014.

"We aredeeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Rasim Aliyev", said Index on Censorship's senioradvocacy officer Melody Patry. "Theattack on Rasim takes place in a deteriorating environment for mediaprofessionals and civil society in Azerbaijan. Rasim was an independentjournalist who kept working after his employer, IRFS, was sealed shut by theauthorities. IRFS existed to provide support to journalists like Rasim,especially at a time when threats, intimidation and violence againstjournalists are commonplace in the country. We call on the authorities toconduct a full and transparent investigation into the attack and bring theperpetrators to justice".

Rasim Aliyev’s murder is the latest incident ina vicious cycle of violence against journalists in Azerbaijan. Over the pastdecade, there have been hundreds of attacks against journalists in the country,including the murder of Monitormagazine editor-in-chief Elmar Huseynov in 2005, and writer and journalistRafig Tagi in 2011. Both murders remain unsolved, as do nearly all other casesof attacks against journalists. Another journalist, Tolishi Sedo newspaper editor-in-chief Novruzali Mammadov, died in2009 while serving a 10-year prison sentence on politically motivated charges.

This attack takes place amidst a brutal humanrights crackdown in the aftermath of the European Games and in the run-up toNovember’s parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. In recent weeks, anotherAzerbaijani journalist, Berlin-based Meydan TV Director Emin Milli, reportedreceiving a high-level threat, which was shortly followed by pressure againstmany of his relatives. Four Meydan TV employees were later prevented fromleaving Azerbaijan.

“Further evidence of the on-going efforts ofthe Azerbaijani authorities to silence all forms of criticism and dissent canbe found in the many violations taking place in the cases of human rightsdefenders Leyla and Arif Yunus and journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who arecurrently standing trial on politically motivated charges”, said FIDH Honorary PresidentSouhayr Belhassen and OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock, whose organisationswork together within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders. The prosecutor has requested staggeringly long prisonsentences for the Yunus couple, despite the fact that both have serious andworsening health problems and should be immediately released on humanitarian ifnot political grounds.

Sport for Rights calls on the Azerbaijaniauthorities to conduct a full and transparent investigation into Rasim Aliyev’smurder, and to bring the perpetrators as well as the masterminds behind thecrime to justice. The cycle of violence against journalists in Azerbaijan muststop, and those responsible must be prosecuted. Threats against journalistsmust be taken seriously, and the threatened journalists and their families mustbe afforded adequate protection. The coalition also calls for the authoritiesto take concrete steps to improve the broader human rights situation in thecountry, including the immediate and unconditional release of all jailedjournalists and human rights defenders.

Sport for Rights further calls for theinternational community to maintain its attention on Azerbaijan now that mediaattention has shifted away from the country following the European Games. AsRasim Aliyev’s murder shows, critical voices are at greater risk now than everbefore. The international community must act now to hold Azerbaijan accountablefor its human rights obligations and promote much-needed reforms in thecountry.

Supporting organisations:

Article 19

FIDH (InternationalFederation for Human Rights), within the framework of the Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders

Front LineDefenders

HelsinkiFoundation for Human Rights

HumanRights House Foundation

Index onCensorship

InternationalMedia Support

NetherlandsHelsinki Committee

PENAmerican Center

PolishGreen Network

WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatoryfor the Protection of Human Rights Defenders