In response to Azerbaijani authorities’ torture of Abbas Huseynov, a political prisoner and a member of the Muslim Unity Movement, Freedom House issued the following statement:
“Huseynov’s family reports that he has suffered numerous incidents of torture and received multiple death threats just two and a half years into his 20-year prison sentence, which he received for allegedly publically calling for the overthrow of the government and inciting ethnic, religious, and social hatred,” said Marc Behrendt, director of Eurasia programs at Freedom House. “Other members of the Muslim Unity Movement have also been tortured since their arrest, trial, and imprisonment in 2015. Their continued imprisonment is part of the government’s long-running crackdown on freedom of speech and political dissent.”
Azerbaijan is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2018, Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2017, Partly Free in Freedom on the Net 2017, and receives a Democracy Score of 6.93, on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the worst possible score, in Nations in Transit 2018.
Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.
