Senators Call on Tillerson to Investigate Anti-LGBTQ Human Rights Abuses in Azerbaijan

A bipartisan group of eight U.S. Senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week urging him to investigate reports that Azerbaijani authorities have detained dozens of LGBTQ people simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In September, it was reported that authorities in Azerbaijan were cracking down on LGBTQ people, arresting at least 60 people while beating, harassing and torturing many of them.

"We write to share our concerns about press reports that Azerbaijani authorities have detained dozens of gay and transgender persons simply because they are gay or transgender," read the letter signed by Senators Wyden, Toomey, Baldwin, Tillis, Shaheen, Rubio, Merkley and Collins. "We urge you to investigate these reports and, if they are credible, to publicly condemn these actions in the strongest terms and to push for perpetrators to be held accountable."

Among the reports are one from a lawyer helping victims who was quoted saying the police "targeted homosexuals in general" and "the detained were subjected to inhuman treatment and torture."

The senators' letter to Tillerson follows calls from the Human Rights Campaign last week for the nation's top diplomat to break his silence and speak out against the anti-LGBTQ human rights abuses occurring in Egypt, Chechnya, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Georgia, Tanzania, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan.

Although the violence has been in some cases formerly condemned by Congress to date, neither President Trump nor Secretary Tillerson has officially addressed the atrocities.