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The arrested Azerbaijani human rights activists Leyla Yunus and Rasul Jafarov, have been nominated for the international human rights prize Human Rights Tulip.

As a founder and chairman of Baku-based Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), Ms Leyla Yunus has been recognized as one of the most prominent human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. The main focus of her work is human rights defense and peacebuilding. Her work includes projects to protect political prisoners, defend women’s rights, combat torture, corruption, human trafficking, and property rights violations, as well as monitoring court proceedings.

Rasul Jafarov is an Azerbaijani human rights activist, who in December 2012 launched a campaign "Art in the name of democracy," calling on young people to stand up for justice through the arts, and not through violence.

"Before the campaign many small initiatives to combat human rights violations have been held in Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, many of them have been banned, members have been harassed, arrested and sometimes killed. Threats always took the form of aggressive emotional attacks, protests and clashes that ended with violence," emphasizes the organization.

30 candidates from different countries are nominated for the award. The voting will last until October 10. Human Rights Tulip Award is presented annually to human rights defenders and organizations that fight for human rights around the world in innovative ways.