18 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 Azerbaijan in European Court of Human Rights judgments On 11 January the European Court of Human Rights issued a Chamber judgment on the case of Mammadov (Jalaloğlu) vs Azerbaijan. The case related to the treatment of Sardar Mammədov (known more widely by the name of Sardar Jalaloğlu), who was arrested on 18 October 2003 when serving as Secretary General of the opposition Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (DPA). The European Court ruled that Articles 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and investigation into allegations of torture) and 13 (the right to effective remedy) had been violated in Sardar Mammədov’s case. On 1 February the European Court issued a judgement ruling that the right to freedom of assembly and association (Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights) had been violated by the four-year delay in the registration of the non-governmental organization (NGO) ‘Assistance to the Human Rights Protection of the Homeless and Vulnerable Residents of Baku’ by the Ministry of Justice. Refugee and extradition concerns On 10 January the Council for Chechen Refugees in Azerbaijan addressed an appeal to UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR. The appeal described what the Council saw as a seriously worsening situation for Russian citizens of Chechen ethnicity seeking refuge in Azerbaijan, including incidents of abduction and officially sanctioned intolerance. There were reportedly more than 4,000 Russian citizens of Chechen ethnicity in Azerbaijan during the period under review, of which 2,500 were reported as having been registered by the Baku Office of UNHCR. In April it was reported by Chechenpress that the body of Ruslan Eliyev, a refugee from the Russian Federation granted mandate status by UNHCR’s Azerbaijan office and then abducted from Baku on 9 November 2006, had been found among a number of mutilated bodies discovered in the Amnesty International Samashki forest in Chechnya. It was reported that his body bore the marks of severe torture and ill-treatment. The case of Hadi Musevi Hadi Sid Javad Musevi, an Iranian citizen and activist of the Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement (SANAM), was arrested on 7 April and on 12 April extradited to Iran despite the risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Hadi Musevi fled Iran for Azerbaijan in September 2006 after previously being arrested and reportedly tortured in connection with activities associated with SANAM, an organization lobbying for the rights of Iran’s estimated 25-30 million ethnic Azeris. SANAM is an organization registered with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and does not advocate violence. Hadi Musevi’s application for refugee status was refused by the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in February. Hadi Musevi’s lawyer, Alovsat Aliəv, reported that he had been prevented from meeting his client, who he claimed was not given the opportunity to lodge an appeal against extradition at the Court of Appeals. A protest action planned on 16 April by the youth group Dalğa (Wave) in response to Hadi Musevi’s deportation was dispersed by police. The case of Elif Pelit (update to AI Index EUR 01/001/2007) On 1 May the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) issued a decision relating to the case of Elif Pelit, a Turkish citizen of Kurdish ethnicity extradited by Azerbaijan to Turkey on 13 October 2006. The Committee ruled that Elif Pelit’s extradition was in breach of Article 3 (against the refoulement of persons to states where there is substantial risk of their being subjected to torture) of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007