“In 2004, when NATO invited a group of Armenian delegates to participate in a peacekeeping exercise in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan was opposed and a riot started. When I refused to participate in the demonstrations, people suspected that I was Armenian. An angry mob killed my best friend, who was also half Armenian, and almost killed me. I was saved by a stranger who carried me to a hospital. Then I managed to escape and come to the U.S. I knew that if I returned to Azerbaijan, I would be killed.

“I came to AI Justice asking for help. They represented me and I won asylum in 2007. I am the only survivor of my family and I am so happy that I can be safe in the United States and build up a new family with my wife and my daughter.”