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Human Rights House Foundation and the network of Human Rights Houses express our alarm at increasing attacks by Azerbaijani authorities on peaceful protests and dissenting and opposition voices witnessed since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. We call on the authorities to immediately cease these human rights violations and for the international community to hold the authorities accountable.

Azerbaijan’s Mehman Huseynov has reached hundreds of thousands of people through self-publishing, with his trademark humour and refusal to be silenced in the face of a media crackdown. The millions of views that he has achieved have come amidst a hostile environment for independent media, and reprisals against him and his organisation.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic puts fundamental democratic rights to the test in several European countries. Now, Norway should use the rest of its Security Council campaign to fight for respect for human rights.

The network of Human Rights Houses is concerned by recent actions on the part of state authorities across western and eastern Europe, the western Balkans, and the Caucasus in response to the escalating COVID-19 crisis. These actions, taken to combat the rising number of infections and deaths associated with COVID-19, raise questions about states’ commitments to civic freedoms and human rights.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) remains very concerned with a number of recent actions taken by the Azerbaijani authorities in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Oslo & Geneva, February 14, 2020: Following events of February 11, 2020 in Baku, Human Rights House Foundation condemns the on-going violence used by Azerbaijani authorities against peaceful protestors raising concerns about recent early Parliamentary elections as well as violence against journalists covering those protests. HRHF renews its call on the Azerbaijani authorities to end the use of violence and unlawful detention against peaceful protestors and journalists.

On Friday 17 January 2020, the “Portraits of Strength” jury unanimously chose Georgian photographer Salome Sagaradze’s photograph of Baia Pataraia of Human Rights House Tbilisi as the competition’s winner.

42 members of Human Rights Houses have called on the Azerbaijani Bar Association to halt reprisals against number of human rights lawyers, including Shahla Humbatova and Elchin Sadigov.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) is deeply concerned about the health of human rights defender Oktay Gulaliyev following a car crash. We call on Azerbaijani authorities to conduct a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation.