Arif Yunus

Life and work

Arif Yunus was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 12 January 1955, to an Azeri father and an Armenian mother. He began his studies at Baku State University and graduated from there in 1981. During his time as a student in Baku State, Arif Yunus met his future wife Leyla Yunus. Arif Yunus eventually attained his doctorate in history in 1986. In 1992, working for the Presidential Office of Azerbaijan, he became the Head of Information and Analytical Department and served this position for a year. He became the executive director of the Azeri Independent Information and Analytical Center. Having served his position at Azeri until September 1994, Yunus eventually became the Chief of Department of Conflictology and Migration Studies of Institute of Peace and Democracy (IPD). The IPD promotes dialogue among intellectuals in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Arif Yunus defends those who suffer from torture and condemns the imprisonment of people for political reasons.

Yunus has published over 30 books and 190 articles related to Azerbaijani history and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Arif Yunus along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He has taken part in various conferences and seminars for such a solution to the conflict.

Arrest and imprisonment

On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunus and his wife Leyla were detained at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport on their way to Doha, Qatar for allegedly spying for Armenia. He and Leyla were then jailed. Arif Yunus was released due to poor health and was placed under guard and prohibited from leaving Baku.

Arif Yunus was then detained and placed under detention on 5 August 2014. He has remained in detention since. At times, during various trials, Arif Yunus has lost consciousness due to his health conditions.

On 13 August 2015 Arif Yunus was sentenced to 7 years in jail, and his wife, Leyla, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail on charges that include fraud and tax evasion. The couple also face treason charges in a separate case. Western governments and human rights groups have expressed concern over their prosecution. Human Rights Watch has denounced their case as a show trial, and Amnesty International says the couple are prisoners of conscience.

International condemnation

The detention of Arif and Leyla Yunus, as well as Rasul Jafarov, has largely been regarded as another step in the state crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan. The actions of the authorities have been harshly condemned by many prominent international human rights organizations, among them Amnesty International (which calls the Yunus "prisoners of conscience" and has called on the authorities to release them immediately), Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, United States Mission to the OSCE, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Nobel Women's Initiative, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and others.

Human Rights Watch has called for the suspension of Azerbaijan's membership from an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) because of "Azerbaijan government’s offensive against human rights defenders and non-governmental organizations".

Personal life

Arif Yunus is married to Leyla Yunus. They have one daughter named Dinara.