Dear friends,
My name is Samad and I'm the President of the human rights organisation Minority Azerbaijan. I've fled to the U.S. three years ago. Being a gay man, I couldn't handle the discrimination, ignorance, and anger anymore that I was facing every day of my life. But being away from my home has never been as painful as it is now.
My friends in Azerbaijan are facing a brutal crackdown: More than 80 people have been arrested under suspicion of being LGBT.
They're being illegally detained by the police, taken from their apartments, cafes, and even while walking down the street. I've heard horrible stories from people who were coerced, beaten, and tortured with electric shocks.
It's all under the guise of "public health concerns," but that couldn't be further from the truth. The government is hunting down anyone who doesn't "look" heterosexual, a clear attempt to attack our LGBT community.
My group is working directly with victims and lawyers to provide safe shelter and fund medical and legal costs. But human rights groups like mine are under constant attack by the government and our funds are extremely limited.
Just yesterday, I heard from a trans woman who was sitting in a cafe when police stormed in and took her away. In a bizarre form of cruel torture, they shaved her head completely bald. She was only in the city to visit her sick dad before his cancer surgery.
Some of the detainees have been released. But that doesn't mean the crisis is over for them. Many, especially transgender victims, have been severely beaten by the police and urgently need medical help. Some can't afford it, or are afraid to leave their house to go to the hospital.
Others who were released no longer have a home, because authorities forced their landlords to evict them. If they stay out on the streets, they're in danger of being attacked or arrested again.
In solidarity,
Samad Ismayilov
President of Minority Azerbaijan
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