Arif Seyfulla oghlu Yunusov, () also known as Arif YunusQuote: ''<...>my surname is being written as Yunus without asking, even though I'm still Yunusov according to my passport''. Original:

/ref> (born 12 January 1955), is an Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. He is the head of the Department of Conflict and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy. Arif Yunusov along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...

between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunusov and his wife Leyla were jailed on charges of extortion and treason for allegedly spying for Armenia. After being detained, Arif Yunusov was sentenced to 7 years in jail; his wife,

Leyla Yunus Leyla Islam qizi Yunusova (née Vəliyeva; born 21 December 1955), better known as Leyla Yunus, is an Azerbaijani human rights activist who serves as the director of Institute of Peace and Democracy, a human rights organisation. She is particular ...

, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail. Their sentences were suspended 15 months later and the couple was allowed to leave for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Life and work

Arif Yunusov was born in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan, on 12 January 1955, to an Azerbaijani father and an Armenian mother. He began his studies at

Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) (BDU; ) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established on 1 September 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and philology, physics ...

and graduated from there in 1981. During his time as a student in Baku State, Arif Yunusov met his future wife Leyla Yunus. Arif Yunusov eventually attained his doctorate in history in 1986. In 1992, working for the Presidential Office of Azerbaijan, he became the Head of Information and Analytical Department and served this position for a year. He became the executive director of the ''Azeri'' Independent Information and Analytical Center. Having served his position at ''Azeri'' until September 1994, Yunusov eventually became the Chief of Department of Conflictology and Migration Studies of Institute of Peace and Democracy (IPD). The IPD promotes dialogue among intellectuals in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Arif Yunusov defends those who suffer from torture and condemns the imprisonment of people for political reasons. Yunusov has published over 30 books and 190 articles related to Azerbaijani history and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Arif Yunusov along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the

between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He has taken part in various conferences and seminars for such a solution to the conflict.

Arrest, imprisonment and release

On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunusov and his wife Leyla were detained at the

Heydar Aliyev International Airport Heydar Aliyev International Airport (; IATA: GYD, ICAO: UBBB) is one of the seven international airports serving Azerbaijan. It is the busiest airport both in Azerbaijan and in the South Caucasus as well as one of the busiest in the post-Sovie ...

on their way to

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar amid a crackdown on human rights activists and journalists. He and Leyla were then jailed. At times, during various trials, Arif Yunusov lost consciousness due to his health conditions. He was released due to poor health and was placed under guard and prohibited from leaving Baku. On 13 August 2015 Arif Yunusov was sentenced to 7 years in jail, and his wife, Leyla, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail on charges that include fraud and tax evasion. The couple also faced treason charges (allegedly for spying for

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

) in a separate case, which was later suspended. Western governments and human rights groups expressed concern over their prosecution.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

denounced their case as a show trial, and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

declared the couple

prisoners of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. The detention of Arif and Leyla Yunus, as well as

Rasul Jafarov Rasul Jafarov (; born August 17, 1984) is a lawyer and prominent human rights defender in Azerbaijan. In April 2015, he was sentenced to six and a half years' imprisonment. He was considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. He ...

, has largely been regarded as another step in the state crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan. The actions of the authorities were harshly condemned by many prominent international human rights organizations, among them

(which calls the Yunus "prisoners of conscience" and has called on the authorities to release them immediately),

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

, United States Mission to the OSCE, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Nobel Women's Initiative,

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

and others.

called for the suspension of Azerbaijan's membership from an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) because of "Azerbaijan government’s offensive against human rights defenders and non-governmental organizations". Leyla and Arif Yunus were allowed by Azerbaijani government to travel to the

for health treatment in April 2016, where they remained to reside in.

Personal life

Arif Yunusov is married to Leyla Yunus. They have one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yunusov, Arif 1955 births Azerbaijani human rights activists Living people Writers from Baku Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Azerbaijan Peace and conflict scholars 20th-century Azerbaijani historians Azerbaijani male writers Azerbaijani people of Armenian descent 21st-century Azerbaijani historians Baku State University alumni Azerbaijani prisoners and detainees People convicted of fraud Azerbaijani criminals Political controversies in Azerbaijan People convicted of tax crimes