Brussels, 30/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - As the date for the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan in May, draws near, MEP Ulrike Lunacek (Greens/EFA, Austria), speaking on Thursday 29 March, highlighted the excesses of the repressive authoritarian regime and the persistent human rights violations in the country. Numerous Azeri human rights activists have accused the regime of successive attacks on the independent press and the rights of freedom of expression and assembly -demonstrations have been banned since 2005 - and called for the immediate release of political prisoners. “The European Union must keep up the pressure on the Azeri government to improve their human rights record, especially after the Eurovision Song Contest”, said Lunacek.
Hosting such an event provides Azerbaijan with the opportunity to burnish its image with the EU. The government, however, is using the song contest as a pretext for conducting an urban renovation policy, removing hundreds of families from their homes, claimed Rasul Jafarov, an activist with the “Sing for Democracy” campaign. The aim of this campaign is “not to boycott Eurovision but to raise awareness” of the critical human rights and fundamental freedoms situation in this country, Jafarov states. “The EU member states should not be interested in Azerbaijan only in terms of oil and gas, but also in terms of the worrying human rights situation, the difficult situation of independent journalists and opposition activists”, Lunacek argues. (SD/transl.rt)