 |
| Sina Yousefi, Human Rights Lawyer |
A group of lawyers and legal experts, including Fatemeh Javidmehr, Arzu Abdullahi, Ghasem Boedi, Naghi Mahmoudi, Amir Mehdipur, and Sina Yousefi, have recently established the Azerbaijan Human Rights Organization to bring attention to human rights violations in Iranian Azerbaijan.
One of the founding members, human rights lawyer Sina Yousefi, stated in an interview with Voice of America that the organization will focus on issues such as the rights of political prisoners in Iranian Azerbaijan, the death penalty, national and cultural rights, language rights, women's rights and gender equality, as well as environmental and labor rights.
"The Azerbaijan Human Rights Organization was founded by lawyers and individuals with legal education, and its goal is to work on the rights of people residing in Iranian Azerbaijan. The organization has set several priorities for itself. First, the rights of political prisoners and prisoners in general will be addressed. Then, issues such as the death penalty and punishments considered forms of torture, such as flogging, will be taken up. National-cultural rights and language rights, women's rights and gender equality, children's rights, the right to live in a healthy environment, and labor and pensioners' issues—these are our priorities."
Yousefi emphasizes the importance and necessity of legal professionals participating in human rights advocacy:
"It was necessary for experts in this field—those who have worked as lawyers, studied law, conducted research, and have a scientific understanding of legal concepts—to become involved in these activities. We saw that there was a need and a gap in this area. We found it necessary to start an initiative where legal professionals form the foundation. Others may join in later."
During the interview, Sina Yousefi also elaborated on the language policies imposed by the Iranian government and the pressures faced by activists advocating for Turkish language rights.
"Many people in Azerbaijan face problems related to this language issue. There are individuals who have been sentenced to prison, arrested, and held in solitary confinement for months because of their activism in this area. I handled a case where a man from Tabriz was detained for 70 days. After his release, he approached me for legal representation. When I reviewed the case file, I found no evidence of any crime. Since they could not find anything against him, they charged him with ‘forming a group.’ This person had distributed officially authorized Turkish-language books in front of schools and other locations on December 17, a date marking the burning of books in Azerbaijan under the Pahlavi regime. Because of this, he was arrested and forced to sign a written commitment not to distribute books again."
Yousefi argues that the Iranian government has significantly increased the cost of engaging in Turkish language rights activism:
"They have raised the price of working in this field to an extremely high level. Of course, we managed to secure an acquittal for that man from Tabriz, but he was still held in detention for 70 days just for exercising his legal rights. Another example is Asgar Fereci, who was prosecuted in Tehran for distributing books. I got involved in his case during the appeals stage. He had been sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison, though there were additional charges against him. Tovhid Amir Amini was convicted for his activism in this field. Alireza Farshi was also convicted. This language issue is a major concern for us. We need to work extensively on this, both at the international level and within our own community."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Sina Yusufi: Hüquqşünasların insan haqları fəaliyyətinə daxil olması lazim idi