"If the European Games are to show that sport can leave a positive legacy, then every journalist and activist detained on politically motivated charges in Azerbaijan should be released well before the opening ceremony," Jane Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, was quoted as saying on the organization's website.
HRW urged European leaders to convey to Baku that they would not send high-level delegations to the games opening ceremony unless all those "wrongly imprisoned" were released.
According to HRW, the Azerbaijani government brought "bogus criminal charges," including drug and weapon possession, tax evasion, hooliganism, incitement and treason, against the detained human rights activists.
The authorities also froze many civic groups' bank accounts, forcing them to suspend their work or close down completely. The country also boosted control over foreign funding, hampering the activity of groups criticizing the government.
The European Games are owned, co-organized and regulated by the European Olympic Committees (EOC), which comprises 50 EU national committees. The first European Games will kick off on June 12 in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
