Europe Plus

European Stability Initiative has nominated three Azerbaijani human
rights activists on the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. Leyla
Yunus, Rasul Jafarov and Intigam Aliyev have been nominated for this
award for their contribution to the protection of human rights,
democracy and fundamental freedoms.

Press release of the European Stability Initiative, sent to the agency
Turan, lists the specific scope and merits of each candidate,
emphasizing that all three were repressed by the authorities of
Azerbaijan for the struggle against tyranny, corruption, suppression of
human rights in the country.

“By putting forward their candidates for Sakharov Prize, the European
Parliament sends a clear message to the authorities of Azerbaijan,”
stated in a press release.

* Sakharov Prize established in 1988 by the European Parliament’s
is awarded annually for achievements in the field of human rights,
democracy and the rule of law, protection of minority rights.

Decision on the winner will be decided by the end of the year.

On 5 September, Azerbaijaini president Ilham Aliyev addressed the Nato summit at the Celtic Manor golf resort in Newport, Wales.

It was an unspectacular speech from an unspectacular autocrat. As he often does, he talked about the amount of money Azerbaijan
was spending abroad, Azerbaijan’s rapid economic development,
Azerbaijan’s role as a bridge between east and west, and Azerbaijan’s
continuing dispute with Armenia.

The dispute between the two countries over the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which has gone on pretty much since the break-up of
the Soviet Union, flared as recently as this summer, when fourteen
Azerbaijani troops were killed in clashes with their Armenian
counterparts. It was easy to miss this, considering events in other
parts of the former Soviet Union. As seems usual in international
conflict now, neither side made any gain and both sides claimed victory.

A few weeks after that skirmish, and just before his Nato address,
Aliyev met recently-elected president (formerly prime minister) Recep
Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
Aliyev is keen to build an alliance with Turkey, and clearly sees
common cause in a shared dislike of Armenia. After the meeting, the
Azerbaijani leader tweeted
that “Turkey has always pursued an open policy on the issue of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, has always stood by
Azerbaijan, stood by truth, justice and international law.” He went on:

This was interesting, in that Erdogan did not seem to mention any
discussion of the Armenian genocide in his press briefing after the
meeting. In fact, the Turkish president has been perceived as attempting
to soften the Turkish state’s hardline denial of the incidents of 1915,
when one million Armenians suffered deportation and death at the hands
of the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey.

In April, on the 99th anniversary of the beginning of the ethnic
cleansing of Armenians, Erdogan released a statement saying: “Millions
of people of all religions and ethnicities lost their lives in the first
world war. Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences –
such as relocation – during the first world war should not prevent Turks
and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane
attitudes towards one another.”

The Justice and Development (AK) party leader went on to express
condolences to the descendants of people who had died “in the context of
the early 20th century”.

Now, this isn’t quite an apology; it’s barely even an apology at
upset caused. It’s closer to the “mistakes were made” formulation, which
is designed not so much to pass the buck as fire the buck into the
heart of the sun in the hope that no one will ever have to deal with it
again, particularly not the person whose buck it is in the first place.

But in the context of Turkey, where not long ago talking about the
Armenian genocide could get you killed, it’s as good as you’re going to
get for now.

So why would Aliyev raise the genocide issue this month? Perhaps he
is nervous that Turkey, a major ally in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, is
going soft on Armenia. This year’s detente between Turkey and Armenia
continued when Armenia’s foreign minister Eduard Nalbandian attended
Erdogan’s presidential inauguration at the end of August.

Nalbandian, in return, formally offered Erdogan an invitation to
Armenia’s genocide commemorations next year, repeating an invitation
first extended a few months ago by the country’s president Serzh
Sargsyan. Any newfound good relations between Armenia and Turkey would
severely weaken Azerbaijan’s territorial argument, or more accurately,
weaken its ability to make the argument forcefully in the international
arena. Turkey’s dispute with Armenia, after all, is mainly historic, and
Erdogan, having seemingly consolidated his own power base outside of
both the secular “deep state” and the Islamic Gülen movement to which
many assumed he owed his success, now has a free hand on shaping foreign
policy. Azerbaijan’s dispute with Armenia is current and, Aliyev hopes,
immediate.

And so Azerbaijan has chosen to try to reignite the issue for its own
ends. Meanwhile, in his own country, human rights abuses continue, with
reports last week that Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace
and Democracy, was in ill health after prison beatings.

In spite of all this, Azerbaijan will continue to attempt to buy
respectability. Next June, Baku will hold the first “European Games”,
backed by the European Olympic Committee, featuring such irrelevancies
as three-a-side basketball and beach soccer. It is not exactly the real
thing, but then, post-Soviet Azerbaijan is a country built of facades;
facades of modernity and wealth and progress and “democracy”. Facades
that hide an underlying ugliness.

By Padraig Reidy / 18 September, 2014

This article was posted on Thursday 18 Sept 2014 at indexoncensorship.org

Disruption of the mission of the UN Subcommittee on Human Rights in
Azerbaijan will cause serious damage to the country’s image in the
international arena, according to human rights activists. “The regime
for 20 years, and especially during the last 10 years, shows a similar
disregard for the representatives of international organizations. Now
they are all frustrated and perform their duties in the UN
representatives” Turan was told by a member of the National Council of
Democratic Forces (NCDF), lawyer Namizad Safarov. Such defiance against
members of the United Nations will be consequences, and will be
reflected in the reports, he said. Ultimately, such a policy could lead
to sanctions against Azerbaijan, Safarov said. Condemned the failure of
the UN mission and the head of the Committee against Torture Elchin
Behbudov.

According to him, the mission of the UN Subcommittee on Human Rights
and the Committee against Torture of the Council of Europe have the
right to unimpeded access to all places of detention.

According to Behbudov, the current UN mission, freely visited a number
of police departments in Baku and regions, but in some institutions of
the Prison Service of Justice they have created obstacles.

He expressed regret that because of the unwarranted actions of officials, the country’s image damaged.

Behbudov also pointed out that the Committee against Torture was also not allowed in prisons.

“I’m not talking about regular monitoring, we were not allowed even to
check individual complaints. At the same time, without prior notice, we
visit police cells, prisons of the MNS, brig, and disciplinary
battalion, and the Ministry of Defense, and other places of detention, ”
said Behbudov.

On September 17 the UN Office in Baku reported that the mission of the
Sub-Committee against Torture to finish ahead of his visit to
Azerbaijan due to the obstacles created when visiting prisons.

TURAN

Constant insults and tortures of the head of the Institute for Peace
and Democracy, consistent fighter for human rights, the well-known human
rights activist Leyla Yunus, continue to amaze and disturb. Does all
this shame and medieval punishment occur in the country, claiming the
creation of a state of law, the owner of the forthcoming European games,
the country Presiding the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe, a member of the UN Security Council?

From history we know that such ill-treatment was in Stalin’s camps
with people declared “enemies of the people.” However, the then regime
“legitimized” such treatment, including torture, beatings of prisoners,
the use of “decoy” for the individual pressure – all of this was
reflected in the regulations, orders and instructions of the “people” of
the Interior. By the way, the survivors, investigators, prison guards,
the NKVD workers of the Stalinist regime, were subject to serious
punishment for the torture of prisoners. Judges, who passed illegal
sentences, were convicted themselves. Another part of them was punished
by fate. The disturbed balance between crime and punishment was
restored, though very small.

The coming to power of uneducated, illiterate, random people who
cannot draw lessons from history, is leading the country to disaster.
We’re going through such a tragedy. It seems that the authorities like
to see the mutilated leg bruises of Leyla Yunus, forgetting not only
humanity, but also the responsibility before the law and Allah.

What do you want to achieve, demonstrating the power over a woman?
The laws adopted by you prohibit to place in one camera with
criminals a person who was jailed for the first time, and whose guilt
has not been proved. Does the court authorizing the arrest of Yunus,
decided on her placing in the same cell with Nurida Huseynova? Not
Leila, and any woman , a citizen of the country, an Azeri woman, mother
is beaten, insulted and humiliated in the cell. Where are the
principles of humanism approved by you? Where are traditions and
national mentality so frequently mentioned by you?

It seems that you have forgotten even the most basic human values. The
was time when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his entourage did the
same. Shahinshah allowed waste, injustice, used petrodollars on
pompous events, for which he was criticized by believers. Assuming for a
humiliating for himself to give interview in the Iranian press, he
instructed his prime minister, Amir Abbas Huveyda to state in press and
declare: “We have the money, we can spend it as we want, and who does
not want to see it, let him close his eyes.”

Just three months after these words the eyes of the Iranian people
opened, but there was no one to close eyes of Mohammed Reza dying in
an airplane.

I wonder why the dictators of modern times forget the bitter fate of
their predecessors? However, it would be fair to note that Shah in any
case showed aristocratism towards women, and Farah Khanum also
supported such behavior of Shah.

So bitter journey through history began with mutilated bruised legs
of Leyla Yunus. Today the international community wants to protect her,
and to free her from the torment and despotism of the authorities. The
authorities of the country, the territory of which is under occupation
for 20 years, is looking for high treason in the noble deeds of a
fragile woman, but forgets about corruption or bribery, that has seized
the country.

No one wants to understand that a betrayal of the country whose
territory is occupied is the appropriation of surface and underground
resources. This is the reality of Azerbaijan – on the one hand the
luxurious life of the ruling elite, on the other – sick, legs of Leyla
Yunus covered with bruises.

Jamil Hasanli

London-based daily newspaper Metro ran a feature this month extolling
the delights of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The photo-driven
feature article comes at a time when the government of President Ilham
Aliyev is ratcheting up pressure on dissenters, including denying
independent news outlets the kind of freedoms that a paper such as
Metro, whose parent company is outspoken on the importance of press
freedoms, enjoys in the UK.

Despite attempts to present itself to the outside world as a modern
and open society — in part through a concerted international PR campaign
— Azerbaijan has a woeful human rights record and continues to arrest,
detain and harass any opponents to the regime of President Ilham Aliyev.
In the last few months, many campaigners and activists have been
arrested in an attempt to silence them.

Metro highlighted 10 things to do in Baku. Here we list just five
things you need to know about Azerbaijan before you go. We ask our
supporters and all those who care about a free press and free expression to draw attention to these so we can counter the whitewash of the
Aliyev regime.

There is an ongoing crackdown on government critics

A number of high profile Azerbaijanis known for their criticism of authorities have been jailed in a matter of weeks. These include human rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus and Rasul Jafarov, human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev and journalist Seymur Hezi. This new wave of repression followed the jailing of two human rights defenders who lead the only independent group monitoring elections in Azerbaijan.

Independent media is silenced

Azerbaijan’s last independent newspaper Azadliq, which was named 2013 Guardian Journalism award winner at the Index Freedom of Expression awards in March 2014, was forced to suspend printing in July because of financial pressures from the government. This is a familiar pattern for Azerbaijan’s critical press, which has long been subjected to an array of attacks. Independent news outlets face economic
sanctions and are often barred from distribution networks. Journalists are also victim to legal threats. In the first six months of 2013, 36 defamation suits were brought against media outlets or journalists.
Award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was subjected to an aggressive smear and blackmail campaign in retaliation for her coverage of government corruption and continues to be targeted by authorities.

Internet users are targeted
//www.youtube.com/embed/t-9AjYJoBHg?rel=0

Ahead of last year’s election Azerbaijan extended penalties for criminal
defamation and insult to cover not just traditional media, but also
online content, including social networks. The potential length of
pre-trial detention has increased from 15 to 90 days. In May, a
university student and member of the Free Youth organisation, was
arrested for a Harlem Shake video
posted on YouTube. A human rights defender was sentenced to four years
in jail on hooliganism charges after posting videos on
YouTube containing interviews with victims of a gang they alleged had
connections to local police officers. A freelance journalist who was
outspoken in his criticism of the government on social media was given a
four-and-a-half-year prison sentence on charges that included appealing
for mass disorder.

Artists are censored

Despite the fact that Azerbaijan has committed to respect and protect
artistic freedom of expression, authorities restrict this right. This is
especially the case for alternative artists and those deemed to be
critical of the government, whose ability to perform, display, or
disseminate their work is limited. Self-censorship is one consequence of
this, with many artists shying away from producing critical or
controversial work for fear of the possible consequences. Musician Jamal
Ali, who has spoken out against President Aliyev, was allegedly
tortured by the police.

Democratic principles are ignored

Current president Aliyev has been in power since 2003, when he took over
from his father Heydar, and in 2009 he removed term limits for the
presidency. According to the international observer mission, the October
2013 election “was undermined by limitations on the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association”, with “significant problems”
observed throughout election day. The 2003 and 2008 votes also failed
to meet international standards. Transparency International has called
Aliyev’s government the most corrupt in Europe. Meanwhile, authorities
have engaged in a wide-reaching international PR campaign. In 2012, the
country was given a chance to project a positive image to the world
through hosting the Eurovision Song Contents. Preparations included
urban renewal programs that saw homes demolished and families evicted.
It remains to be seen what will happen next year, when the inaugural
European Games come to Baku.

By Jodie Ginsberg / 17 September, 2014

This article was published on Wednesday 17 Sept 2014 at indexoncensorship.org