Say (No.): 322/ 2006

                                                                                        Tarix (Date):  17.05.06

Amnesty International

London

Dear Mrs. Harrison

Re    A NEW BATCH OF ARRESTS IN MAKI AND A CONCERN FOR TORTURE

We have just received information, according to which five activists of the Southern Azerbaijani national movement were arbitrarily arrested on Sunday 14 May 2005. The arrests took place in the Southern Azerbaijani city of Maki (Maku) and their names are given below.

The houses of these activists were raided at approximately 5.00 O’clock in the morning in an orchestrated manner and after being heavily tortured in front of their families they were transferred to the Intelligence office in Maki. There is a complete blackout of news on their conditions and this together with the manner of their arrest is an indication that their conditions may indeed be grave.

Since witnessing the scale of the violence exerted by the agents and their rough behaviours during the arrest, the families of the arrested persons are now traumatised and extremely concerned. Whilst we are reporting the case to you in the usual manner, we are also concerned that these activists may be suffering and therefore to reduce this risk we see a case for an urgent action. Therefore, we are requesting you to take a keen interest on the fate of these person towards an urgent action.

The names of this batch of newly detained persons are:

1-     Behmen Nesir zade

2-     Eli Helmi

3-     Mohsun Donmez

4-     Eli Huseyn Nejad ( Savalan )

5-     Sabir – from the Erebli Town

Yours sincerely

Boyuk Resuloghlu

Chairman

For and on behalf of

The Committee for Defending the Rights of the World Azerbaijanis