Rasul Jafarov (; born August 17, 1984) is a lawyer and prominent human rights defender in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. In April 2015, he was sentenced to six and a half years' imprisonment. He was considered a

prisoner 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 ...

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 ...

. He received a pardon in March 2016.

Education

Jafarov is a lawyer by training, and holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in international and European law. He is an alumnus of

Central European University Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...

Activities

Rasul Jafarov has worked as reporter for the

Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(IRFS), where he investigated (as reporter) numerous criminal cases against journalists, prepared reports about the cases, and monitored the trials and legal correspondences. He is also a founder and chairman of the Human Rights Club (HRC), non-formal group, which has been denied legal registration by the Azerbaijani court since the group establishment in 2010. Within the HRC Jafarov has coordinated in 2012 the "Sing for Democracy" campaign. Using the occasion of Azerbaijan hosting the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, this campaign demanded that citizens' rights be respected, and highlighted that two journalists critical of the authorities in Azerbaijan had been murdered. The "Sing for Democracy" campaign received wide international coverage. In December 2012, “Sing for Democracy” was expanded and rebranded as “

Art for Democracy Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

,” which Rasul Jafarov continues to lead. Also in 2012 Rasul Jafarov has organized "Expression Online Initiative" that coincided with

Internet Governance Forum The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multistakeholder governance group for policy dialogue on issues of Internet governance. It brings together all stakeholders in the Internet governance debate, whether they represent governments, the pri ...

, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. "The campaign continues to expand Internet freedoms by protecting online activists, streamlining and initiating new Internet freedom legislation, as well as engaging in practical solutions to protect Internet rights." Jafarov has been involved in a number of other efforts to educate citizens of Azerbaijan about their rights, to ensure legal representation of political prisoners, and to highlight human rights abuses. He was also an active participant of the

Eastern Partnership The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European Union, together with its member states, and six Eastern Europe, Eastern European countries. The EaP framework governs the EU's relationship with the post-Soviet states of Armen ...

Civil Society Forum. In June 2014, Rasul Jafarov has been included to the Natalia Project - alarm and positioning system for human rights defenders at risk. In 2014, together with

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 ...

, Rasul Jafarov has led a Working Group, which worked on compiling a list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. In early August 2014 both of them have been arrested, and their names are the last ones on the list - final outcome of their work - which has been published by the

Norwegian Helsinki Committee The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (''Den norske Helsingforskomité'') is a Norwegian human rights non-governmental organization based in Oslo. It was founded in 1977 following the adoption of the Helsinki Accords. It works to ensure that human righ ...

Political prisoner

On August 2, 2014 Jafarov was imprisoned on charges that are widely considered to be fabricated. During detention, Rasul Jafarov turned 30 years old. On the occasion of his 30th birthday his friends and supporters organized an action "Books for Rasul - birthday in prison". Numerous international organizations, including

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 ...

, the

Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

and the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

have highlighted his arrest in a public letter. Also inter-governmental institutions, such as

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, has expressed their deep concern regarding Rasul Jafarov's detention. In April 2015, he was sentenced to six and a half years' imprisonment. In March 2016 Jafarov was among 148 prisoners who received a presidential pardon.

Awards

Nominations

In 2014, a number of organizations have also put Jafarov forward for the

Sakharov Prize The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scienti ...

, together with

and

Intiqam Aliyev Intiqam Kamil oglu Aliyev (; sometimes also spelled Intigam; born 30 November 1962, Pushkin (now Bilasuvar), Azerbaijan SSR) is an Azerbaijani lawyer and human rights activist. Along with other human rights activists, Aliyev was jailed in mid-2 ...

. Rasul Jafarov has been also nominated for the

Human Rights Tulip The Human Rights Tulip () is an annual prize awarded by the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs to a human rights defender or organisation who promotes and supports human rights in innovative ways. The Human Rights Tulip was established in 2007 and ...

award.

Awarded

In October 2014, The

awarded Rasul Jafarov - together with

Anar Mammadli Anar Mammadli (; born 1978) is a prominent human rights activist in Azerbaijan. He is active in observing and monitoring elections, and he has repeatedly criticized the conduct of elections by Azerbaijani authorities. On 16 December 2013, Mammadli ...

and

- The Andrei Sakharov Freedom Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jafarov, Rasul 1984 births Azerbaijani human rights activists Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Azerbaijan Living people Lawyers from Baku Western Caspian University alumni Azerbaijani prisoners and detainees Recipients of Azerbaijani presidential pardons Central European University alumni