The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein condemned on Tuesday the ongoing crackdown on civil society and independent voices in Azerbaijan.

“Despite my repeated calls to the highest State authorities, including the President himself, undue pressure, harassment and intimidation against journalists, human rights defenders and activists by State authorities continue to be reported in Azerbaijan,” Zeid said.

“I call for the immediate release of all those who have been deprived of their liberty simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly as well as for defending the rights of others,” he added.

In his statement, UN High Commissioner commented on the recent sentencing of journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

“Ms. Ismayilova’s sentencing is just the latest example of the crackdown on independent voices in the country. Azerbaijani authorities have already jailed a number of other journalists, human rights defenders and activists, including Leyla and Arif Yunus, Intigam Aliyev, Anar Mammadli and Rasul Jafarov, on different questionable charges,” Zeid said.

The UN Human Rights Office has received worrying reports of the fragile and deteriorating health of several of these prisoners, he added. “I call upon the Azerbaijani authorities to urgently release seriously ill prisoners on humanitarian grounds.”

Zeid also urged the Government to rescind recent legislative amendments concerning the registration and financing of associations, which severely curtail the work of independent civil society organizations by restricting their access to domestic and foreign funding.