Recently, blogger Sevinj Huseynova's calls for mass violence and hate speech against LGBTQI + and specially transgender women have been legally assessed and reflected in a collective complaint to the relevant authorities.
Periodically increasing violence, discrimination and phobic acts against LGBTQI + in Azerbaijan have made mental, physical and material security extremely vulnerable for many queers. Institutional LGBTQI + phobia hinders the fight against gender-based and / or sexual-oriented violence and perpetuates existing unfair and dangerous conditions. Every year since the police raids on LGBTQ + in 2017, there have been a series of attempts to keep communities under pressure with queerfob attacks and killings. Thus, the opportunities for the politicization of individuals, the visibility of their rights and freedoms are severely limited.
One of the contributors to this systemic problem, blogger Sevinj Huseynova, on various social media accounts on various dates openly has called for actions to incite various social hatred and hostility towards trans women as well as threatening to use force.
Facts:
On July 7th, 2021, Sevinj Huseynova posted a video on her Instagram account calling to humiliate transgender women based on their gender identities and create hate and enmity against them .
On July 9th, 2021, a group of transgender women formally appealed to the 17th police station. The appeal demanded Sevinj Huseynova's arrest (despite the appeal, no legal action was taken against Sevinj Huseynova, and the case was not referred for investigation).
On July 10th, 2021, Sevinj Huseynova reacted to a group of transgender women on her Instagram account for calling the police. She insulted and ridiculed transgender women, as well as, called for transgender women to be humiliated and hated for their gender identities (there are more than 486,000 views).
On July 16th, 2021, three individuals were attacked because of their gender identities in their private apartment on the Khirdalan settlement of the Absheron district. One of them was stabbed three times .
On July 22nd, 2021, by insulting and humiliating, Sevinj Huseynova made a hateful statement against transgender women on her Instagram account and shared a video of a transwoman Nuray. The video received more than 270,000 views. In addition, other sites and pages shared the video which contributed to the spread of this hate speech.
On August 13th, 2021, four LGBTI+ individuals were attacked in one of the apartments at the Heydar Aliyev Avenue on the Khirdalan settlement. Some of them were injured.
On August 23rd, 2021, the burnt body of the transwoman Nuray targeted by Sevinj Huseynova was found by residents of the Buta settlement in Garadagh district.
On August 25th, 2021, a group of transgender women gathered in front of the Garadagh District Police Office to protest against the killing of a transwoman Nuray. Then, they gathered in front of the Ombudsman's Office to make demands.
On August 26th, 2021, Sevinj Huseynova posted another video on her Instagram account. In the same video, the shared content also created social hate and hostility against transgender women. The video was watched by more than 51,000 people.
On September 1st, 2021, Sevinj Huseynova began a new live broadcast on her Instagram account and shared a social hate and hostility video that contains insulting, threatening, and hateful content against transgender women. She made calls for murdering and other types of criminal attempts.
On September 5th, 2021, LGBTQI + activist and journalist Avaz Hafizli attempted suicide after being personally threatened and insulted by Sevinj Huseynova.
Above mentioned fact clearly presents that the spread of hate speech, including through the use of the media, contributes to the increase in violence against LGBTQI +. At the same time, the chain of violence is strengthened when no necessary legal measures are taken in this regard.
Sevinj Huseynova's calls for incitement to social hatred and hostility against LGBTQIs, especially transgender women, as well as threats to use force, are elements of a crime under Articles 283.1 and 283.2.1 of the Criminal Code.
In this regard, on September 3, 2021, a group of civil society activists, including transgender women, submitted a collective complaint to the relevant authorities for appropriate criminal action, assessed in accordance with the law.