Rights defenders of NAR call to pay close attention to human rights violations in the republic

The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR) sees continued pressure on local human rights activists, who made public the death of Zeinalov, a resident of the village of Arazin from the Djulfin District. Malakhat Nasibova, the head of the Regional Resource Centre for Development of NGOs and Democracy, said that she received threats.

Let us remind you that Zeinalov's relatives have reported that he was arrested on August 24 and died on August 28 as a result of the torture applied to him at the Ministry of National Security (MNS) of the NAR.

The Ministry has confirmed the death of Turadzh Zeinalov, 31, on August 28; however, rejected any accusations of a violent death.

On September 5, Nasibova received threats - right in from of the house where she lives - from the mother of Rafael Asadov, an employee of the regional MNS.

"Who are you to post my son's name on the Internet? You'll see what I'll do with you; and you'll be able to do nothing to us - the MNS is behind us," Asadov's mother told her.

Earlier, Asadov himself called Nasibova a "nation's enemy", because she was interested in the fate of Zeinalov.

The rights defender appealed to the Nakhichivan City Police asking to investigate the incident and take measures.

So far, it was impossible to get the comments from the NAR Police on this issue.

Earlier, Ms Nasibova held a press conference in Baku, where she told about the terrible human rights situation and heavy conditions for the work journalists and human rights defenders in the NAR.

"We need to make public the fact of Turadzh Zeinalov's murder and the fate of the remaining four detained employees of the airport staff, who were also tortured. All of them, including the murdered Turadzh Zeinalov, were arrested without any judicial sanctions," said Nasibova.

According to her story, "it is simply impossible to get any comment or information from the state agencies of the NAR."

"The staff of these agencies at all levels expose journalists to gross abuse and never answer our questions," said Nasibova.

Her press conference was attended by officials from the Embassies of the USA, Germany, France, Norway and other Western powers.

The head of the Regional Resource Centre for Development of NGOs and Democracy urged the media and human rights organizations of Azerbaijan to keep the situation in the NAR under scrutiny.

The members of the monitoring group of human rights organizations of Azerbaijan - Novella Djafaroglu, Said Godjamanly, Arzu Abdullaeva, and Saadat Bananyarly - intend in the coming days to visit the NAR, examine the circumstances of Zeinalov's death and study the human rights situation in the region.

In her turn, the Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Elmira Suleimanova addressed on September 1 the General Public Prosecutor and the Head of the Ministry of National Security (MNS) of Azerbaijan to investigate the death of the young person in custody.

"The General Public Prosecutor of Azerbaijan gave specific instructions to investigate the circumstances of Turadzh Zeinalov's death," said Eldar Sultanov from the press service of the Prosecutor's Office.