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A joint program of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) stated in the joint statement that are concerned by the recent decision of transferring Ms. Leyla Yunus, to the Investigative Prison of the Ministry of National Security, the official site of the organization writes.

As it is noted in the press-release on October 18, the Azeri authorities decided to transfer Ms. Leyla Yunus to the Investigative Prison of the Ministry of National Security, where her husband Mr. Arif Yunusov has been detained since August 5. The Investigative Prison is the only remaining prison which is not subordinated to the Ministry of Justice.

‘Moving Leyla out of the ordinary justice system to the custody of the national security ministry is putting her at immediate risk of torture’, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General commenting on the decision. ‘This is also a deliberate attempt to prevent any further information about her detention conditions to become public and thus to effectively silence any international critique over her detention.

Various international human rights bodies such as the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) or the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) have expressed their concerns about the extreme levels of isolation of the detainees and the absence of a proper medical unit in this prison. The UN CAT has recommended this prison to be either transferred to the Ministry of Justice or to be closed down.

The press-release also reads that that this measure comes soon after the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) took the unprecedented decision of suspending its visit to Azerbaijan due to obstructions it encountered in carrying out its mandate under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), to which Azerbaijan is a party.

Moreover, the Observatory has been informed that on October 23 the office of the public prosecutor will be asking the Pre-Trial Court for a three months extension of the period of investigative detention for Leyla Yunus, the article reads.

“This latest decision follows six months of prosecution and arbitrary detention of one of the country’s leading human rights defenders. Never was a presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, overshadowed by a similar wave of repression of human rights defenders. It is time for Leyla Yunus to be released immediately and for those responsible for this persecution to bear the responsibility”, said Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.

FIDH calls on the authorities in Azerbaijan to ensure Ms. Leyla Yunus’ physical and psychological integrity by providing adequate medical care and appropriate protection measures as well as to release her immediately and unconditionally, as her detention seems to only aim at sanctioning her activities amidst a wave of increasing repression against civil society organisations and representatives in Azerbaijan.

Human rights activist Leyla Yunus was arrested on 30 July in her house yard. She was charged with state treason, tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, falsification of documents and large-scale fraud. Charges of state treason and large-scale fraud were also brought against her husband Arif Yunusov. Based on these charges the court arrested Yunus for three months.