repression Archives

Azerbaijani Activists Warn Of Rising Repression Ahead Of Referendum

September 17, 2016 by administrator

The increasing repression within the country has worried activists and some Western governments, and raised the specter of internal turmoil should simmering resentment toward elites who have enriched themselves boil over.

By RFE/RL

September 15, 2016

WASHINGTON — Activists warn that Azerbaijan’s government has stepped up repression of journalists, civil society activists, and human rights workers ahead of a key referendum, and urge the West to do more to confront Baku.

The oil-rich South Caucasus country has faced growing internal problems stemming from falling world oil prices in recent years. At the same time, longtime President Ilham Aliyev has pushed forward with a referendum scheduled for September 26 that will strengthen his authority, extend the length of presidential terms, and drop the minimum age for future presidential candidates.

Turkel Karimli, the son of jailed opposition leader Ali Karimli, told a U.S. congressional panel on September 15 that the referendum results were almost certain to be rigged, and there was a growing danger of civil unrest if the government continued to stifle dissent.

“A normal and competent government would have moved to introduce economic reforms to revitalize the public finances,” Karimli told the bipartisan panel known as the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

“But the corrupt and incompetent regime of Ilham Aliyev, facing…likely social unrest, has chosen to respond in the only way it knows — more arrests, more oppression, more terror, false imprisonment, and the systematic plan to silence the last remaining free media outlets,” he said.

“It is beyond a reasonable doubt that the upcoming reference vote will be completely rigged,” he added.

Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist who was jailed for 17 months in what was widely seen as retribution for her work for RFE/RL and other media outlets, said Azerbaijan currently had 138 people in jail considered to be political prisoners. She said several were reporters who, like herself, have documented corrupt deals connected to the Aliyev family and other top government officials.

“The country has literally become a prison,” she said, speaking via video conference from Azerbaijan, which she is currently barred from leaving after her release from prison in May.

“Those who expose corruption are punished more than those whose corruption are uncovered by journalists,” Ismayilova said. “None of us broke any law, but we broke an unspoken rule of the regime — we dare to tell the truth. What is the inconvenient truth that the government doesn’t like? It’s all about money, it’s all about corruption.”

Located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has major oil and gas reserves that are being developed jointly with major international companies. The mainly Shi’ite Muslim country has also been a supporter of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, and the fight against the radical Islamic State militants.

But the increasing repression within the country has worried activists and some Western governments, and raised the specter of internal turmoil should simmering resentment toward elites who have enriched themselves boil over.

Richard Kauzlarich, who served as U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan in the 1990s, told the commission that the United States and other Western countries should abandon “quiet diplomacy” — raising human rights concerns discreetly — and more actively confront the Aliyev government.

He urged Washington to consider recalling its ambassador in Baku, imposing asset freezes and visa bans for officials involved in repressing journalists and activists, and curtailing U.S. government financing deals through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or the Export Import Bank that would benefit Azerbaijani companies.

“Quiet diplomacy has not worked. Quiet diplomacy has turned political prisoners into objects to be traded,” he said.

“Active diplomacy is tough-love diplomacy, and а good relationship requires common values and confronting corruption, limits of freedom, and perpetuation of a Soviet-style command economy,” he said.

Ismayilova warned that that Azerbaijan’s internal problems could lead to an increasingly radicalized society, with dire consequences for the already tumultuous Caucasus region or elsewhere.

“Problems within Azerbaijan today could become problems for the United States tomorrow,” she said. “The United States should care for us because the last thing we want to be is to become a problem for the rest of the world.”

No, this is the truth about Azerbaijan’s repression – The Washington Post

September 26, 2015 by administrator

The first lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, recently was in Paris, where she opened a photo exhibition titled “Azerbaijan, Land of Tolerance.” An inquiring reporter asked if Azerbaijan is really such a place, noting that its jails are full of political prisoners. “How can you say that?” Ms. Aliyeva responded tartly. “It’s not true.” She urged the reporter to “get correct information.” The reporter then asked her to comment on the imprisonment of human rights advocate Leyla Yunus and journalist Khadija Ismayilova. No answer; the first lady turned her back while security guards pushed the journalist away.
If she wants “correct information,” perhaps Ms. Aliyeva and her husband, President Ilham Aliyev, should read the resolution on Azerbaijan approved Sept. 10 by the European Parliament. It declares that the human rights situation in Azerbaijan has “deteriorated continuously over the last few years,” with “growing intimidation and repression” of rights defenders, journalists and others in civil society. “Peaceful protesters have been effectively banned from demonstrating in central Baku since 2006,” the resolution states, and journalists are subject to “continuous intimidation and harassment,” among them Emin Milli, founder of the online broadcast news outlet Meydan TV, who has received death threats.
Need more “correct information”? Azerbaijan recently forced the closure of the offices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Baku, silencing another important channel for monitoring democracy and human rights. According to the European Parliament, “Azerbaijan has suffered the greatest decline in democratic governance in all of Eurasia over the past ten years.” And the European Union’s dialogue with Azerbaijan on human rights has “not made any substantial progress.”
The day after this indictment of Azerbaijan’s record was approved, the government in Baku canceled a planned European Commission delegation visit that was supposed to discuss a proposed strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan. A few days later, Mr. Aliyev met with some schoolchildren in Baku. He declared that vague external enemies “want to subjugate Azerbaijan itself, force us to live according to their instructions.” Mr. Aliyev added, “Today Azerbaijan is in good hands, no one can put pressure on us, affect our policy.” Noting the refugee crisis in Europe, the Azeri strongman asked of the Europeans, “Where is your tolerance and kindness, generosity, where are your values?”
Mr Aliyev has long believed he could repress dissent at home while fending off criticism from abroad. He has lavished millions of dollars on overseas goodwill efforts. More millions were spent to host the European Games this year in Baku, at which the athletes blithely ignored the human rights abuses.
But Mr Aliyev cannot sustain this forever. The horrid treatment of Ms. Yunus and her husband, Arif, and that of Ms. Ismayilova, have gained widespread attention around the world and won’t be papered over by trendy photo exhibits in Paris.

Human Rights Watch: Baku games to begin amid widespread repression

June 11, 2015 by administrator

The first European Games will open inAzerbaijan on June 12, 2015, in an atmosphere of government repression unprecedented in the post-Soviet era, Human Rights Watch said today.
The authorities have detained dozens of critics of the government and failed to allow several journalists from major European outlets to enter the country to cover the games. They have also barred the human rights organization Amnesty International from releasing a report in Baku, the capital.
“Government repression is making the European Games historic for all the wrong reasons,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The European Olympic Committee still has the chance to prevent the Games from being tarnished by the Azerbaijani government’s abuses, but time is running out.”
Azerbaijan is hosting the inaugural European Games, a multi-sport event for over 6,000 athletes from 50 European nations, in Baku from June 12 to 28. The European Olympic Committees (EOC), an association of 50 National Olympic Committees, owns and regulates the games. Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, is also the president of the country’s National Olympic Committee, and has strong ties with the sports world.
In recent weeks Azerbaijani authorities denied or failed to provide required press accreditation and visas to at least three foreign journalists with European media outlets. A reporter with a leading European television station said he has yet to receive accreditation despite following all of the procedures. The authorities denied accreditation to Regis Gente, a journalist with Radio France Internationale who has been based in the South Caucasus reporting news stories on Azerbaijan since 2002. A third journalist denied accreditation works for a major European news media outlet.
Also on June 10, Azerbaijani border police at the airport in Baku refused entry to and deported Emma Hughes, an activist with the London-based group Platform who was accredited to cover the Games as editor of Red Pepper magazine. Hughes has advocated the release of government critics wrongly imprisoned by the Azerbaijani authorities, and her book criticizing the Azerbaijani government is scheduled for publication on June 12.
“Media freedom is a central pillar of the Olympic movement,” Denber said. “By denying visas to reporters covering the games, Azerbaijan and President Aliyev are rejecting one of the basic rules for hosting the event. The EOC and International Olympic Committee should demand a full explanation and reversal of these actions.”