Reacting to the growing number of reports that peaceful activists protesting the school hijab ban have been detained and that an activist who attempted to organize free online lessons for girls affected by the uniform regulations has gone missing, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

“Mass arrests of peaceful protesters alongside participants in violent riots, including the reported detention of a mother protesting against her daughter’s exclusion from school, and the disappearance of an activist who aimed to help affected girls, are typical of the state’s violent suppression of the lawful exercise of the right to protest peacefully, and the crackdown on freedom of expression and all dissent in Azerbaijan.

“Denying girls access to classrooms because they wear a hijab is discriminatory and violates their rights to education, and the freedoms of religion and expression.…