AI urges John Bolton to raise human rights issues in Baku

On the eve of a visit to Azerbaijan of US national security adviser John Bolton, the international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) has urged him to raise before Baku officials the issues of human rights violations and persecution of journalists and activists.

On October 19, among the "acutest problems" the AI pointed to illegal and arbitrary detentions and arrests, torture, lack of judicial independence, presence of political prisoners, physical attacks on journalists, interferences with freedom of expression, assembly and association, prosecution on suspicious charges of activists, journalists, secular and religious opposition figures, and blocking of websites.

Besides, the AI draws attention to restrictions on the freedom of movement of journalists and activists, presence of systemic corruption in the government, harassment of LGBT people, etc.

The authors of the AI's appeal recommend John Bolton to raise the specific issues during discussions with the leaders of Azerbaijan.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 21, 2018 at 01:02 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.