Adjovi Examines Human Rights Violations in Azerbaijan
Human rights expert Roland Adjovi, assistant professor of Historical and Political Studies at Arcadia University, examined the institutionalization of persons with disabilities, psychosocial dysfunctions, and intellectual impairments in Azerbaijan from May 16 to 25.
As Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Adjovi interviewed more than 80 inmates and patients at detention centers in Baku, Ganja, and Nakhchivan City. Accompanied by the Working Group’s Vice Chair José Guevara, Adjovi found that Azerbaijani inmates are not only denied the right to challenge their detention, but are subjected to ill treatment, torture, and unwarranted life sentences.
Alarmed by these violations of basic human rights, Adjovi and Guevara released the following statement:
“A shift is required, and the Working Group recognises that such a shift will be both at the State level through the legal framework, but also at the society level, with adequate measures to address social stigma attached to disability. Persons with disabilities ought to be included in our society and fully enjoy their rights.”
