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Congressional Record—Senate S2027 March 26, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2027 RECOGNIZING AID FOR AIDS OF an expert perspective on several com- POLITICAL PRISONERS IN AZER- NEVADA AND THEIR 25TH AN- munity and State boards, including the BAIJAN, SAUDI ARABIA, AND NUAL AIDS WALK Governor’s Commission on Aging; the ETHIOPIA Mr. REID. Mr. President, today I rec- Nevada Legislative Task Force for a Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we have ognize Aid for AIDS of Nevada and the Healthy Nevada; the University of Ne- a number of challenging foreign policy 25th Annual AIDS Walk in Las Vegas, vada, Las Vegas Center for Aging; and issues at the moment—from Russian NV. the Nevada Elder Abuse Prevention aggression in Ukraine to ISIL and the Established in 1984, Aid for AIDS of Council. Syrian civil war to stemming climate Nevada, AFAN, is the oldest and larg- Carla Sloan has devoted her career to change. est AIDS service organization in the improving the lives of Nevada’s sen- Yet amid these larger demands, it is State. Each year, AFAN serves more iors. I commend her dedicated service important to remember there are many than 3,500 individuals and families in to the Silver State, and I wish her the smaller struggles going on all over the southern Nevada who are living with best in her future endeavors and retire- world that are also important—strug- HIV/AIDS. This organization provides a ment. gles for basic political freedoms which range of services to help people living f can still result in jailings or worse. with HIV/AIDS manage their disease, Today I would like to mention a including medical case management, JO MACKEY ACADEMY OF LEAD- number of such brave individuals who housing assistance, and nutritional ERSHIP AND GLOBAL COMMU- are being detained for exercising or ad- services. AFAN is also committed to NICATION 50TH ANNIVERSARY vocating for such democratic values. First, I am deeply troubled by the re- reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today cent crackdown on human rights activ- works with community stakeholders to to recognize the 50th anniversary of ists in Azerbaijan—part of a disturbing implement prevention initiatives, in- the Jo Mackey Academy of Leadership pattern in that country that has sig- cluding educational seminars for high- and Global Communication in North nificantly deteriorated during the last risk groups. Las Vegas, NV. Since this elementary This year marks the 25th year that year. school opened 50 years ago, the school The New York Times summed it up AFAN will host AIDS Walk Las Vegas, has been dedicated to educating our which is not only AFAN’s biggest fund- nicely in its recent editorial by de- young citizens while preparing them to scribing Azeri President Aliyev as a raiser, but also one of the largest succeed in our culturally diverse soci- events for HIV/AIDS in the State of Ne- modern-day ‘‘Jekyll and Hyde’’ who is ety. Mrs. Jo Mackey spent her life fo- able to convince the world that he vada. Last year, more than 10,000 peo- cusing on the welfare and betterment ple participated in AIDS Walk Las plays nice with the West while creating of all children, and she would be proud one of the worst human rights records Vegas and raised nearly $440,000 for to see her name on an elementary AFAN. The money raised each year at the same time. school with such notable success. Aliyev wants the world to believe from this event helps AFAN provide Jo Mackey Magnet School has made that Azerbaijan is a model country health care referrals, food vouchers, remarkable strides in the last 50 years that promotes moderate Islam, has bus passes, rent assistance, and other to ensure excellence in the education strong relations with the West, and is essential services to thousands of Ne- of the children of Clark County. They an ideal host for the upcoming Euro- vadans affected by HIV/AIDS. offer special exploration classes to fos- pean games, yet it currently holds I commend AFAN on their 25th An- ter intellectual growth in areas such as more political prisoners than Russia nual AIDS Walk Las Vegas, and I ap- communication, mathematics, art, for- and Belarus combined—not a great dis- plaud their decades of dedicated service eign language, and many other sub- tinction to be sure. to southern Nevada. jects. They have hired a team of enthu- At the end of 2014, Aliyev’s henchmen f siastic and dedicated staff whose effec- brazenly raided Radio Free Europe/ tive teaching is evidenced by the high RECOGNIZING CARLA SLOAN Radio Liberty offices in Baku, just test scores of the students. In the last weeks after the government arrested Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today school year, Jo Mackey Magnet School one of the country’s best known inves- to recognize and honor the career of had a higher percentage of students tigative reporters, Khadija Ismayilova. Carla Sloan as she retires from her po- meet or exceed Nevada’s standards in After more than 2 months of detention, sition as the American Association of reading, mathematics, and science she was charged with embezzlement, il- Retired Persons, AARP, Nevada State when compared to the county and legal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and director. State percentages. They also exceeded abuse of power—similar charges to For more than 30 years, Carla Sloan State and county rates in attendance those of other human rights activists. has been a leading advocate for Nevad- and reported zero incidents of bullying Last August, Senators CARDIN, MUR- ans. She has held positions ranging or suspensions. Additionally, the Jo PHY, and I sent a letter to President from the founding director of the How- Mackey Academy of Leadership and Aliyev expressing our concern over the ard W. Cannon Senior Services Center Global Communication was recently imprisonment of Anar Mammadli and in Las Vegas, senior services coordi- recognized by the Magnet Schools of Bashir Suleymanli, the chair and the nator for the Las Vegas Housing Au- America Merit Awards Program as a executive director of the Election Mon- thority, administrator for the State of Magnet School of Excellence. itoring and Democracy Studies Center, Nevada’s Division for Aging Services, Since its founding, Jo Mackey Mag- an organization that promotes free and and founding Nevada State director for net School has prepared Clark County’s fair elections in Azerbaijan. the AARP. children to embark in a world of diver- Recently, Bashir was finally released Through these positions, Ms. Sloan sity. Students of many different ethnic but his colleague Anar remains behind led a statewide coalition of senior or- and racial origins work together on bars. ganizations and developed initiatives projects both inside and outside of the Just prior, police arrested Leyla to help seniors throughout the Silver classroom. Within the last year, stu- Yunus, the director of the Institute for State live more independently. She dents built and harvested from a school Peace and Democracy. The very next also worked to ensure Nevada’s pub- garden and learned about the impor- week, the police followed up by arrest- licly funded programs address the tance of healthy eating. ing her husband, Arif Yunus; fellow ac- needs of older individuals and con- I sincerely thank Principal Kemala tivist, Rasul Jafarov, a human rights nected thousands of Nevada’s seniors Washington and the dedicated staff of defender and chairman of the Human to essential resources, including health Jo Mackey Academy of Leadership and Rights Club; and Intigam Aliyev, the care, housing, and financial planning Global Communication for their hard country’s most prominent human services. work in educating our children. Con- rights lawyer and the 2012 winner of In addition to these roles, Ms. Sloan gratulations on 50 years of standing as the prestigious Homo Homini Award has effectively represented the inter- a shining example of what a magnet for his work defending the rule of law ests of Nevada’s seniors by providing school should be. in Azerbaijan. VerDate Sep 11 2014 12:23 Apr 08, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD15\MAR 15\S26MR5.PT2 S26MR5 DSKD7QTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S2028 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 26, 2015 Last month, the Washington Post ran Raif’s lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, a Many had hoped that new Ethiopian a powerful letter on its opinion page prominent human rights activist in his Prime Minister Hailemariam would written recently by Khadija where she own right and head of the Monitor of bring a change to his late predecessor’s states that the reason she is in prison Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, was human rights policies. is because of the regime’s corruption himself arrested and sentenced to 15 Unfortunately, last July the Ethio- and vows to continue to expose that years in prison followed by a ban on pian Government charged six bloggers corruption. Less than a week later the travel for 15 years. and three journalists—known collec- Azeri government suddenly called for a Also concerning is that his case was tively as the Zone 9 Bloggers—under a closed-door trial and found her guilty taken up by the Specialized Criminal broadly used terrorism law, despite any of criminal libel. Court in Jeddah, which was created in credible evidence be offered. To quote her piece in the Post: 2008 to deal with terrorist suspects but Sadly, these bloggers seem to have The fight between good and evil goes on, has also taken to trying human rights been arrested to narrow the already and the most important thing is that this activists on dubious charges.
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