'Eurovision Song Festival Azerbaijan: Singing for democracy'

The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in late May. Human-rights activists are hoping to point the spotlight at the state of human rights in the country. 

Germany's human rights commissioner, Markus Löning, is outraged. "The last really shocking case I experienced was a journalist I know personally, who was put under pressure," he says. The journalist in question is Khadija Ismailova, who found out what happens if you want to perform research for critical reports on the government in Azerbaijan.

In early March 2012 Ismailova received an anonymous letter containing explicit photos of her and her boyfriend that had apparently been shot with a hidden camera in her apartment. It included a note: "Slut, behave yourself, otherwise you will be exposed." Unfazed, she continued her research, and published the threatening letter. A week later, private videos were published on the Internet. The authorities refused to investigate the case. Löning calls this "unacceptable."

The case of journalist Ismailova is just the latest example, says Hugh Williamson, Director for Europe and Central Asia at rights organization Human Rights Watch. Some six journalists are currently detained in Azerbaijan, and the number has increased in the course of the last year. Williamson describes how the Azerbaijan justice system intimidates journalists: "A journalist who works for Iranian media was invited to a police station to answer some questions. He was told to take off his jacket. He went to another room. When he returned, he discovered a small quantity of drugs in his jacket."


For more: 'Singing for democracy' | Europe | DW.DE | 18.04.2012