Azerbaijan: Council of Europe commissioner slams Baku for human rights violations
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 8 September 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Azerbaijan: Council of Europe commissioner slams Baku for human rights violations, 8 September 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/542ac72e1b.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
September 08, 2014
By RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service
Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights
The Council of Europe's human rights chief has harshly criticized Azerbaijani authorities over what he says is the deterioration of human rights and basic freedoms in the oil-producing Caspian Sea country.
The council's human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, told RFE/RL on September 8 that a "wave of arrests of human rights defenders" had increased in recent months.
He said the sitation was "totally unacceptable" and "flies in the face of the human rights obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan" when it joined the 47-nation European human rights body.
In an e-mail interview, Muiznieks cited several cases in which Azerbaijani journalists and bloggers critical of the authorities have been jailed, persecuted, or humiliated.
"The few critical voices that are still outside the country's detention facilities face mounting pressure and often had to leave the country, when not under a travel ban, and had their bank accounts frozen," Muiznieks added.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
