A group of members of the U.S. Congress has sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asking him to investigate an incident that occurred in Washington in February outside the hotel where Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was staying and to take action against those responsible.
Azerbaijani media reported that Congressman Jim McGovern published the letter on social media.
According to the document, on February 19, during Aliyev’s visit to Washington, his security personnel used force against protesters gathered outside the Waldorf Astoria hotel, Factor.am reported.
“As widely circulated videos appear to show, Ilham Aliyev’s security personnel used excessive force, striking and chasing protesters. This appears to be an act of transnational repression carried out in close proximity to senior U.S. government officials. We express deep concern about this incident,” the statement said.
Lawmakers noted that one of the protesters was Rahim Yagublu, the son of opposition politician Tofig Yagublu.
The latter has been sentenced in Azerbaijan to nine years in prison on fraud charges, which his supporters say are politically motivated.
“We condemn these attacks as a direct assault on every person’s right in the United States to assemble peacefully and exercise freedom of speech. These rights are foundational to American democracy and are protected by both the U.S. Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the document stated.
The letter also notes that members of Congress have previously expressed concern about human rights violations in Azerbaijan, as reflected in the U.S. State Department’s annual reports.
They called on the U.S. administration to pressure the Azerbaijani authorities to fulfill their international obligations.
According to the authors of the letter, the U.S. leadership should respond to the incident through official and diplomatic channels and conduct an investigation to identify those responsible.
The appeal was signed by Senator Tim Kaine and Representatives Jim McGovern, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jamie Raskin, Dina Titus, Donald Beyer, and James Walkinshaw.
