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Threats, physical violence and the imprisonment of government critics have become the hallmark of the Azerbaijan regime as the country prepares to host the first European Games, said Amnesty International in a report released 100 days before the opening ceremony, Italian site Repubblica.it writes.

It is noted that the report published by Amnesty International and titled “Guilty of Defending Rights: Human Rights Defenders and Activists Behind Bars” covers the situation with the human rights in Azerbaijan and highlights the mounting persecution of government critics, detained under false charges, beaten and threatened and deprived of urgent medical care and lawyers.

According to the article at least 22 prisoners of conscience are currently languishing in prison or in detention in Azerbaijan awaiting trial following trumped up charges ranging from fraud to high treason. In June 2014 President Ilham Aliyev stated in his address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that freedom of expression, association and assembly are assured in Azerbaijan. However, the reality is different from that: since then there have been more than 90 instances of harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest and politically motivated charges against human rights defenders, journalists and others daring to criticize the Azerbaijani government. Within a matter of weeks, those who had given their testimony to PACE were one after another arrested in Azerbaijan.

The example of Leyla Yunus, a 60-year-old human rights defender, is brought in the article noting that she was arrested in July 2014 - a few days after calling for a boycott of the European Games because of the regime’s dire human rights record. The harsh conditions of her 6-months detention have aggravated her health problems. She suffers from diabetes and hepatitis C. Her lawyer reported that Yunus had been dragged from her cell to an empty room where she was thrown on the ground and kicked.

“The authorities have intensified a crackdown on journalists critical of the government. Award-winning investigative journalist, Khadija Ismayilova, was detained on December 5, 2014 on an implausible charge of inciting a former colleague to suicide. Ismayilova had published a list of political prisoners and was also investigating claims of links between President Aliiyev’s clan and a lucrative construction project in Baku. She previously received anonymous threats that intimate photos of herself, believed to have been taken by government officials covertly at her home, would be published if she did not abandon her work,” the site writes.

As the article has it, the authorities also target critical and outspoken young activists, accusing them of drug-related offences or hooliganism. The allegations used to secure their arrest are highly questionable and questioning by the police focused on their political views. Faraj Karimov, a popular blogger, claimed that he was beaten by police to make him admit to drug-related charges. He was threatened that unless he did that, police would plant weapons at his parents’ house.

Violence is also rife in detention. Orkhan Eyyubzade, a 19-year-old pro-democracy activist who was serving a 20-day administrative detention for participating in an “unauthorized” peaceful gathering, was viciously attacked by two policemen. He told his lawyer that police forced him to lie on his stomach, handcuffed his hands behind his back, tore off his underwear, punched and kicked him and threatened to rape him with a bottle. After appealing, he himself was accused of assaulting police officers and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.