URGENT APPEAL- THE OBSERVATORY

Newinformation

AZE 002 / 0414/ OBS 031.11

Torture andill-treatment

Arbitrary detention /Deterioration of health

Judicial harassment

Azerbaijan

November 10, 2015

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights(FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received newinformation and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation inAzerbaijan.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about newdevelopments concerning the appeal trial against Ms. Leyla Yunus,Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) and a member of OMCTGeneral Assembly, and Mr. Arif Yunusov, husband of Ms. Yunus and Head ofthe Conflictology Department of IPD.

According to the information received, on November 5, 2015, thepreliminary hearing was held before the Baku Court of Appeal.

All motions filed by their lawyers were dismissed by the presiding judgeVugar Mammadov, including the motion to change the measure of restraint from detention to house arrestconsidering in particular their health condition and to partial re-examinationof the case.

Ms. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov's lawyer was not allowed to meetand discuss with his clients before, during and after the hearing. During thehearing, several large bruises were visible on the neck of Leyla Yunus. BothArif and Leyla Yunus looked visibly exhausted and weak. Mr. Arif Yunus was reportedto have been brought to the court room from the hospital. Ms. Leyla Yunus andMr. Arif Yunusov's lawyer announced that he will file a complaint regardingpotential acts of ill-treatment. Placed in a glass cage before the observerswere allowed to the court room, the two stayed silent during the whole hearing.

On October 20, 2015, the Court of Appeal referred the case to the Courtof Serious Crimes to investigate the inconsistency in court protocols with thetestimony given during the trial. On November 5, 2015, the court consideredthis motion, but did not provide its conclusions to the defence attorneys.

The next hearing is scheduled for November 12, 2015.

The Observatory urges the Azeri authorities to immediately put an end tothe judicial harassment against Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov, as their detentionand judicial harassment is only aimed at sanctioning their human rightsactivities, amidst a wave of ongoing repression against civil societyorganisations and representatives in Azerbaijan.

The Observatory also calls on the authorities to urgently provideadequate medical care to Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov, including medication andhospitalisation as required and to carry out a prompt, effective andindependent investigation into the allegations of ill treatment against Ms.Leyla Yunus.

Background information:

Ms. Leyla Yunus has long fought for human rights and the rights ofethnic minorities in her country. She has been heading the IPD since 1995. InOctober 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was awarded the Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira deMello, and was among the three finalists for the Sakharov Prize. She alsoreceived the distinction of “Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légiond’Honneur” of the French Republic in 2013. She has worked on numerous projectsrelating to human rights, political persecution, corruption, human trafficking,gender-based issues and violations of the right to property. Ms. Yunus and twoother detained human rights defenders, Messrs. Intigam Aliyev and Rasul Jafarov, were members of a groupcompiling a list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

With her husband, Ms. Yunus has also worked towards reconciliationbetween Azerbaijan and Armenia, two countries divided by the conflict in theNagorno-Karabakh region. Ms. Leyla Yunus has been involved since 2005 in the“Track II Diplomacy” Initiative, and initiated a project of dialogue betweenAzeri and Armenians, developed jointly with a regional research centre inArmenia.

On April 28, 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was reportedly invited to theInvestigation Department of Serious Crimes of the Office ofProsecutor General of Azerbaijan in order to testify as a witness in thecriminal case against journalist Mr. Rauf Mirqadirov, columnist and press correspondent in Turkey forthe independent newspaper Zerkalo. Later in the evening, they werebanned from boarding a plane to Paris via Doha. The authorities seized theirluggage, conducted a search without presenting them any court order, and seizeda laptop, a video camera, USB flash drives and paper records. Their lawyer KhalidBagirov was denied access to the couple.

On April 29, 2014, Ms. Yunus was interrogated for nine hours in relationto the case against journalist Rauf Mirqadirov and waslater released.

On July 30, 2014, Ms. Yunus was arrested again by the Prosecutor’soffice on charges of “treason” (Article 274 of the Criminal Code), “large-scalefraud” (Article 178.3.2), “forgery” (Article 320), “tax evasion” (Article 213),and “illegal business” (Article 192), and brought to the department of gravecrimes of the General Prosecutor’s Office, where she had to undergo a six-hourquestioning. Her husband joined her at the department of grave crimes of theGeneral Prosecutor’s Office, where he was also questioned. Ms. Yunus and Mr.Yunusov were both formally charged, and placed in pre-trial detention. Mr.Yunusov was later placed under house arrest, and placed in detention again onAugust 5, for violation of his conditional sentence.

Following international criticism over harsh conditions of detention,Ms. Yunus was examined in December 2014 by German doctor, whose officialresults were not made public. Ms. Yunus’ lawyer, who visited her on February 8,nonetheless reported that she was suffering from sight problems, and that shewas continuing to lose weight.

At the end of 2014, Ms. Leyla Yunus was deprived of her lawyer, Mr. JavadJavadov, following his criticism of the judicial process against Ms.Leyla Yunus during a court hearing on October 24, 2014. A few dayslater, her second lawyer, Mr. Khalid Bagirov, was also removedfrom the case. Her third lawyer, Mr. Alaif Hasanov, wassubjected to a lawsuit by Ms. Nuriya Huseynova – a cellmate of LeylaYunus – who accused him of passing information to the media. Mr. AlaifHasanov was the first lawyer to speak out about the physicalpressure exercised by her cell mate over Ms. Leyla Yunus.

On January 5, 2015 and February 2, 2015, the European Court of HumanRights communicated on two applications filed for violations of the rights ofMs. Leyla Yunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov.

On July 15, 2015, the trial opened in the Baku Grave Crimes Court.During trial, Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov were placed in a glass courtroom cage,with their Azeri to Russian interpreter sitting near the cage (both areRussian-speaking, and the hearings were held in Azeri). Local and internationalobservers were often denied access to the courtroom without explanation andhearings were held in the smallest room of the court house.

During the trial, the lawyers of Ms. Yunus regularly argued thatcontinued detention was life threatening to Ms. Yunus, highlighting that Ms.Yunus was suffering from diabetes, hepatitis C, and a liver enlargement anddeterioration. The lawyer also denounced the poor conditions of detention ofhis client at the Investigative prison of the Ministry of National Security,where Mr. Arif Yunusov suffers from insomnia high blood pressure.Throughout the trial, all motions filed by the defence lawyers, including therequest to sit next to his clients, were dismissed.

At the hearing of August 3, 2015, an ambulance was called in order toprovide first aid healthcare to Mr. Yunusov, who fainted due to a worryinglyhigh arterial pressure. Mr. Yunus later regained consciousness but the doctorof the National Security prison who was called to the court after the healthincident, reportedly stated that Mr. Yunusov health condition did not allow himto further participate in the trial. However, the judge decided to adjourn thehearing to the next day, August 4, 2015.

On August 13, Ms. Yunus and Mr. Yunusov wereconvicted to 8.5 and 7 years in jailrespectively. Mr. Arif Yunusov fainted while making his final plea.

On October 12, the appeal trial of Ms. Leylaand Mr. Arif Yunusov opened before the Baku Court of Appeal. The hearing was suspended several times. International observerspresent reported that Ms. Yunus lookedvery weak and denounced being refused the medical treatment prescribed by theGerman doctor.

On October 20, the Baku Court of Appeal decided to refer the criminalcase against Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunusov back to the Baku Grave Crimes Court,following a complaint filed by their lawyer, Mr. Elchin Sadiqov,highlighting inaccuracies in theminutes of the hearings of the trial before the lower court.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Azerbaijan, urgingthem to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of Ms. Leyla Yunus, Mr. Arif Yunusov, and all humanrights defenders in Azerbaijan;

ii. Carry out a prompt, effective and independentinvestigation into the allegations of ill treatment against Ms. Leyla Yunus;

iii. Provide urgent adequate medical care to Ms. LeylaYunus and Mr. Arif Yunusov, including medication and hospitalisation asrequired;

iv. Put an end to any kind of harassment - including atthe judicial and investigatory levels - against Ms. Leyla Yunus, Mr. ArifYunusov, and more generally all human rights defenders in Azerbaijan;

v. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nationson 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 theprotection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”;

- Article 5, which underscores the right of everyindividual 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 competentauthorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, againstany violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination,pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or herlegitimate exercise of his or her rights”;

vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsstandards and international instruments ratified by Azerbaijan.

Addresses:

· Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of theRepublic 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) 12492 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 ofAzerbaijan, 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 4590

· Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of theRepublic 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 43009 81

· H.E. Mr. Murad N.Najafbayli, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to theUnited Nations in Geneva, Route desFayards 237, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland, Fax: (+41) 22 901 1844, E-mail: geneva@mission.mfa.gov.az

· Embassy of Azerbaijan in Brussels, AvenueMoliere 464, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: (+32) 2 345 91 85

Please also write to the diplomaticmissions or embassies of Azerbaijan in your respective country as well as to the EUdiplomatic missions or embassies in Azerbaijan.

***

Geneva-Paris,November 10, 2015

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, isdedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer themconcrete support in their time of need.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel andfax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

· Tel andfax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80