US State Department points to human rights violations in Azerbaijan

In 2015, in Azerbaijan, there were restrictions on political freedoms, violations of electoral rights, criminal prosecution of activists, pressure on NGOs, as well as increased self-censorship in the media. These are the conclusions made by the annual US State Department report on the situation of human rights in the world in 2015.

"Attacks on freedom of expression, assemblies and associations were manifested in the practice of threats and prosecution on far-fetched charges," states the "Azerbaijan" section of the annual US State Department report published on its website on April 13.

According to the report, in the criminal case against NGOs in Azerbaijan, law enforcers arrested leaders of a number of NGOs and frozen bank accounts of many NGOs. The Azerbaijani authorities use the courts to silence dissent, the report notes.

It also states in the report that the Azerbaijani authorities do not punish officials involved in the violation of human rights, and the republic still adheres to the practice of arbitrary detention by the Ministry of Interior Affairs (MIA) and the secret services, which, being directly subordinate to the president, arrest and use force against peaceful demonstrators.

Oktai Gyulalyev, the leader of the public alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he agrees with the assessment of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan.

"However, the case should not be limited to ascertaining the violations. The US and the West in general should consistently support democratic values, not go to conciliation, and insist on full respect for human rights," Oktai Gyulalyev has said.

According to him, despite the release of more than a dozen political prisoners in March, at least 80 activists and journalists still stay in the country's prisons.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.