Alikram Hummatov

{{Short description|Azerbaijani militant and activist (1948–2022)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Alikram Hummatov

| image = Alakram Gummatov.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Hummatov in 2009

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1948|10|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lerik, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR

| death_date = {{death date and given age|2022|12|22|74|df=y}}

| death_place =

| nationality = Azerbaijani

| other_names =

| occupation =

| years_active =

| known_for = Leader of self-declared Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic

| notable_works =

}}

Alikram Hummatov or Ali Akram Hummatzade (also spelled as Alakram Hummatov, 28 October 1948 – 22 December 2022) was an Azerbaijani Talysh military commander and political activist. He was the president of the self-proclaimed Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic in 1993 and was imprisoned in Azerbaijan. He was considered as a political prisoner by international organizations including Amnesty International and the Council of Europe.{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org.ru/library/Index/ENGEUR010072002?open&of=ENG-380 |title=Amnesty International, Concerns in Europe, 2002 |access-date=28 October 2017 |archive-date=21 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021111703/https://www.amnesty.org.ru/library/Index/ENGEUR010072002?open&of=ENG-380 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/06/mil-030627-rfel-144959.htm|title=Azerbaijan: Council Of Europe Gives Baku Another Two Months On Issue Of Political Prisoners, By Jean-Christophe Peuch, 2003|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,HRW,,AZE,3e28183d0,0.html World Report 2003 - Azerbaijan]. Human Rights Watch After demands from the Council of Europe, Hummatov was granted retrials, yet according to Human Rights Watch report, the authorities conducted him{{Clarify|reason=What is 'conducted him' meant to mean?|date=December 2022}} inside prisons, and with procedural violations.{{404|date=December 2022}} He was pardoned in 2004 and stripped of his Azerbaijani citizenship; he lived in exile in the Netherlands.

Biography

Hummatov was born in 1948. He graduated from the Baku Polytechnical Institute, then worked in the automotive industry. In 1975, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.{{Cite web |title=ГУМБАТОВ (Гумматов) Аликрам - Биография - БД "Лабиринт" |url=http://www.labyrinth.ru/content/card.asp?cardid=27516 |access-date=2022-12-24 |website=www.labyrinth.ru}} He served in different political parties, including the Popular Front of Azerbaijan. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Hummatov was the leader of the self-declared Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan at a time of political instability in 1993, and was "seen by many Azeris as a dangerous separatist."{{Cite news |date=2003-02-06 |title=Azerbaijan in a stir over political prisoner |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2733283.stm |website=BBC.co.uk |access-date=2022-12-23}}

=Imprisonment=

In 1995 Hummatov was sentenced to death by an Azerbaijani court, later commuted to life imprisonment, on a range of charges including treason. In an open letter to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Sidiki Kaba, the president of the International Federation of Human Rights, wrote that Hummatov and Qaziyez "are being held in Qobustan prison. Their prison system is very strict and sentences them to isolation. In fact, under the pretext of protecting their physical integrity, these two prisoners have been locked up alone, in closed cells at night, which prevents them from receiving medical assistance throughout the night in the case a problem should arise."[http://www.fidh.org/Open-letter-to-Mr-H-E-Heydar-Aliev "Open letter to Mr. H.E Heydar Aliev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan"]. Sidiki Kaba, FIDH, April 2003 In prison Hummatov fell ill with tuberculosis and lost almost all of his teeth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/53374/|title=Резко ухудшилось здоровье азербайджанского политического заключенного Алиакрама Гумматова|first=Кавказский|last=Узел|website=Кавказский Узел}} He was among those identified in 2001 by the Council of Europe as political prisoners who should either be released or retried. In 2004 Hummatov was pardoned by President Aliyev, stripped of his Azerbaijani citizenship, and sent to the Netherlands where his family lived.{{Cite web |url=http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/caucas1/msg/2004/09/m32302.htm |title=Аликрама Гумматова заставили отказаться от гражданства Азербайджана |access-date=8 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605125658/http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/caucas1/msg/2004/09/m32302.htm |archive-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}

=''Hummatov vs. Azerbaijan'' case at the European Court=

After emigrating to the Netherlands, Hummatov made two applications against the Republic of Azerbaijan to the European Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. On 29 November 2007 the court sentenced the state of Azerbaijan to pay the applicant 12,000 EUR for non-pecuniary damages and 2,090 EUR for costs and expenses.[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,ECHR,,AZE,4562d8cf2,474fcc072,0.html Hummatov v. Azerbaijan Judgement], UNHCR, 2007

=Later activities=

Hummatov continued to campaign in exile for the rights of the Talysh people. In September 2013, he visited the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, two decades after confronting Karabakh and Armenian forces on the battlefield. He met with university students in Stepanakert, where he criticized the current Azerbaijani government and called for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stating "I believe that we must do everything to establish peace in the region so that our beloved children live, create and study in peaceful conditions." Hummatov traveled to Karabakh from Armenia, where he inaugurated a graduate program of Talysh studies at the Yerevan State University on 24 September 2013.{{cite web|title=Former Azeri Commander Visits Artsakh|url=http://asbarez.com/114375/former-azeri-commander-visits-artsakh/|date=26 September 2013|publisher=Asbarez|accessdate=26 September 2013}}

Personal life

Hummatov was married to Sudaba Rasulova; they had two sons. According to Rasulova, neither she nor her children know the Talysh language, and speak only Azerbaijani at home.{{cite news|last=Həsənli|first=Elbəyi|title=Ələkrəm Hümmətovun həyat yoldaşından sensasion müsahibə|url=http://musavat.com/news/g%C3%BCnd%C9%99m/%C6%8Fl%C9%99kr%C9%99m-H%C3%BCmm%C9%99tovun-h%C9%99yat-yolda%C5%9F%C4%B1ndan-sensasion-m%C3%BCsahib%C9%99_166411.html|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=Yeni Müsavat|date=2 October 2013|language=az}} Rasulova stated that she was unaware of Hummatov's plans to visit Armenia, and she does not understand why her husband traveled there. Hummatov died on 22 December 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://qafqazinfo.az/news/detail/elekrem-hummetov-oldu-386174|title=Ələkrəm Hümmətov vəfat etdi|date=22 December 2022|website=Qafqazinfo}}

References

External links

[http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/report2003/Aze-summary-eng Republic of Azerbaijan, report, Amnesty International, 2002]{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:1999:348:0113:0113:EN:PDF Written question E-0639/99, by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE) to the Commission, Official Journal of the European Communities, 1999]
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2733283.stm Azerbaijan in a stir over political prisoner, BBC, 2003]

Category:1948 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Azerbaijani people of Talysh descent

Category:Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Category:Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Category:European Court of Human Rights cases involving Azerbaijan

Category:Recipients of Azerbaijani presidential pardons

Category:People convicted of treason

Category:Azerbaijani prisoners sentenced to death

Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Azerbaijan

Category:Azerbaijani prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment

Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Azerbaijan