Watchdog

BRUSSELS -- Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have presented their nominations for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought -- including Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death in 2010 under Pakistan´s blasphemy law.

Polish MEP Anna Fotyga of the conservative ECR group in the European Parliament said on October 2 that Bibi's "behavior in prison, the dignity she has shown during all these years is the best proof of her being able to represent the dignity of a defender of human rights in the face of the worst fate."

Fotyga spoke at a joint meeting of the foreign affairs, development, and human rights committees in Strasbourg.

Bibi has been on a death row for almost seven years and her appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court has been postponed to an undetermined date.

She was convicted and sentenced to hang after an argument with a Muslim woman over a bowl of water. Her supporters maintain her innocence and insist it was a personal dispute.

Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam can be sentenced to death. Rights groups say blasphemy laws are often abused to carry out personal vendettas, mainly against minority Christians.

Bibi is among six nominees for the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize, which honors individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The others nominees are Guatemalan human rights defender Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic; Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-chairs of a pro-Kurdish party in Turkey; a group of people representing the Venezuelan opposition; the Swedish-Eritrean prisoner of conscience Dawit Isaak; and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a human rights defender from Burundi.

On October 10, the European Parliament's foreign affairs and development committees are scheduled to vote on a shortlist of three finalists and the laureate is to be announced on October 26. The award ceremony will take place at the parliament in Strasbourg in December.

Azerbaijani authorities say they arrested more than 80 people last month who offered "sexual services," following reports by international rights groups that the government had rounded up dozens of members of the country's gay community.

The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and Prosecutor-General's Office issued a joint statement on October 1 saying that 83 people were detained in raids from September 15 to September 30, based on "requests from citizens."

"The reason for the detentions were offers of sexual services to locals and tourists," the statement said. It added that 56 of those detained were ordered to be held for various periods of time, 18 were fined for administrative offenses, and the other nine were warned.

Of the 56 who were detained, the government statement said 32 were sent to a "treatment center" to care for "various venereal diseases," including six suffering from AIDS.

It said none of those detained were currently in jail.

The statement comes after numerous reports by rights activists of a state crackdown against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

Amnesty International said last week that more than 100 members of Azerbaijan's LGBT community had been detained and that 48 were sentenced to up to 20 days behind bars.

Several of those who said they were detained reported being beaten in custody and not allowed to select their own attorneys, the London-based watchdog said.

"Clearly, LGBT community representatives were exclusively targeted in this raid and this was a blatant intimidation attempt by the authorities," said Amnesty, also calling for Azerbaijani officials to release everyone who had been arrested.

The government statement denied that LGBT people were targeted but said, rather, that the detentions were carried out to address "violations of public order."

Council of Europe Secretary-General Daniel Holtgen said in a statement on October 1 that "this discrimination against sex and other minorities is contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights" and added that LGBT members had the "same rights as others" that should be "respected" by Azerbaijan.

Samed Ragimly, an activist who coordinates legal defense for those detained by the government, told the AFP news agency that those who had been arrested were officially accused of "resisting police" and received up to 30 days in jail.

Ragimly said two of those jailed "admitted" to engaging in prostitution but that the others had various other professions and "have nothing to do with prostitution."

Azerbaijan, which is rich in oil, has been accused by rights group in recent years of authoritarian policies under President Ilham Aliyev.

With reporting by AFP