OSCE/AZERBAIJAN: Arbitrary arrests and torture by law enforcement
Oral statement at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference
HRWF (03.10.2024)
Recommendations
Human Rights Without Frontiers is concerned about the use of violence by the law enforcement in cases of arrests and interrogation of people peacefully expressing their ideas in the public space in Azerbaijan. We recommend that the Minister of the Interior sanction such policemen.
Statement about the facts
On 20 July of this year, eleven members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, a Shia-derivative new religious movement founded in 1999, were arrested for publicly manifesting their faith in Fountain Square, in Baku. Two of them were sentenced to a minimum of 30 days in prison for “hooliganism.”
When the members of the religious community were arrested, they were just holding up images of their religious leaders and distributing brochures in Fountain Square, in Baku to share their specific beliefs which dissent from Shia Islam as it is regulated in the country.
Two of them, Rustam Gasimli and Neriman Shabandzade, were sentenced to 30 days in prison for “hooliganism.”
They have recently testified publicly about the conditions of their arrest and interrogation at the police station.
Rustam and Neriman were dragged into a nearby building, where the officers began a brutal assault before transporting them to the police station. The beating took place for approximately 10-15 minutes until the police car arrived. They were then forcibly placed in the vehicle, where they were subjected to further threats, insults, and physical abuse.
Upon arriving at the police station, a dozen officers beat them relentlessly for 30 to 40 minutes. The violence intensified as officers targeted their faces, heads, and legs, with some even attempting to force brochures into their mouths.
The chief pressed his foot on his Rustam’s throat and stomach, and even on his genitals.
Both prisoners were further humiliated when a baton was forcibly inserted into Rustam’s backside. Neriman was then coerced into participating in the abuse but refused and they were beaten again.
In court, despite presenting their injuries as evidence and pleading for an investigation into police misconduct, their pleas fell on deaf ears. The judge dismissed their claims, refused to review surveillance footage, relied on false testimony from an officer who was not present during the beatings, and sentenced to 30 days in prison the two members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light.
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