A group of human rights activists appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International.
Report presents the text:
We, human rights activists from the Joint Working Group on Human Rights of Azerbaijan, express our concern over the fate of the activists recently arrested in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
As is already known, the Second Karabakh War, which began on September 27, 2020, and lasted for 44 days, was welcomed by Iranian citizens of Azerbaijani origin. Twelve activists, who celebrated Azerbaijan's liberation of its lands after 30 years of occupation, held a rally in Jiral Park of Iran's Ardabil in support of the Azerbaijani Army and in protest of Iran's assistance to Armenia. On October 9, 2021, the Ardabil city court sentenced the activists, who were beaten and detained by the Iranian security forces during the protest, to a total of 180 months in prison and 888 lashes.
Hossein Balakhani, Asgar Akbarzadeh, Mostafa Parvin, Morteza Parvin, Mojtaba Parvin, Hamed Heidari, Mohammad Cholani, Sobhan Bakhshi, Mehdi Hushmand, Bahman Kheyrju, and Sajjad Cholani were found guilty under Article 607 of the Fifth Book of the Criminal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They were sentenced to seven months and 16 days in prison for disobedience to law enforcement officers, seven months and 16 days in jail for violating public order, and 74 lashes. Asgar Akbarzadeh was also fined for allegedly injuring a police officer.
In the following days, activists protesting in various cities of South Azerbaijan and Tehran with similar goals were arrested and released temporarily.
We, the Azerbaijani human rights activists, strongly condemn the use of physical force and torture, inhumane treatment and detention by security forces during the recent protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran as a violation of human rights and demand their immediate release. We ask you to support our request."
The appeal was signed by the Chairperson of the Society for the Protection of Women's Rights named after D.Aliyeva Novella Jafarova, Chairperson of the Bureau for the Protection of Human Rights and the Rule of Law Saida Gojamanli, head of the Azerbaijani branch of the International Organization for Human Rights Saadat Bananyarli, Chairperson of the Society for Humanitarian Research Avaz Hasanov, Chairperson of the Azerbaijan National Committee of Helsinki Citizens Assembly Arzu Abdullayeva, Chairperson of the Azerbaijan Human Rights Center Eldar Zeynalov, Program Coordinator of the Azerbaijan Human Rights Center Zaliha Tahirova, and the Chairperson of the Organization for the Protection of Oil Workers' Rights Mirvari Gahramanli.