Oppositionists call on US and EU to impose sanctions on Azerbaijani officials

Sanctions against Azerbaijani officials should be a sort of payment for violating the freedom of assembly, and for harassing their critics, the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 19, in Baku, law enforcers dispersed an unsanctioned rally announced by the NCDF and the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). The police reported 60 detainees.

The authorities fail to react to demands of the public to investigate the dispersal and repressions, the NCDF has stated, noting that not a single case of ill-treatment or torture by the police has been officially investigated since October 19.

Activists cite law enforcers' threats against Tofig Yagublu, the arrested member of the coordination centre of the NCDF for his opposition activities.

The authorities continued encroaching on the freedom of assembly and failed to sanction the action of the "Musavat" Party scheduled for November 10; and on November 12, its picket was severely dispersed, the NCDF has stated.

Elshan Gasanov, the coordinator of the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan (UFPPA), finds it necessary to impose sanctions against those who "are brutally suppressing human rights."

Bakhtiyar Gadjiev, the head of the Institute for Public Policy, doubts the realism of sanctions against Azerbaijani authorities. According to his story, now the West is not up to human rights in Azerbaijan. He has recalled that Azerbaijan is providing its airspace for NATO flights to Afghanistan and is implementing a major project of the Southern Gas Corridor to deliver natural gas to Europe bypassing Russia.