Activists urge UN and CoE to pay attention to torture in Azerbaijan

A group of Azerbaijani civil activists has called on international organizations to intervene in the situation of arbitrary arrests and torture of peaceful protesters in Azerbaijan.

The appeal to the United Nations (UN) Committee against Torture and the Committee of the Council of Europe (CoE) was signed by 21 persons, including human rights defenders, activists and journalists, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

"31 people were arrested in connection with the rally on October 19 ... Ali Kerimli, the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was beaten by the police. Tofig Yagublu, another oppositional leader, a member of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) was brutally tortured," Anar Mamedli, the head of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training.

"The UN and CoE's Committees against Torture have the right to monitor the situation in Azerbaijan ... Their urgent visit to places of detention could be a message to the authorities that law enforcers should observe standards for treating detainees," said Khalid Agaliev, a lawyer and a member of the Civil Society Platform.

In the opinion of Bashir Suleimanly, the head of the Civil Rights Institute, the consolidated position of international organizations may influence the authorities.