Human rights in Azerbaijan
Encyclopedia
Despite being a member of such bodies as the Human Rights Council and Council of Europe
, several independent bodies, such as Human Rights Watch
, have deemed human rights
in Azerbaijan
to be subpar at best. Democratic and personal freedoms have been diminished by the government, wary of revolutions in Central Asia
spreading to home turf.
The 2008 Freedom in the World report, which tries to measure the degree of democracy and political freedom in the world, labeled Azerbaijan a Not Free country, with low scores in both Political Rights and Civil Liberties sections.
, recent elections there have widely been contested as fraudulent and 'seriously flawed.' Azerbaijani media coverage of the election is considered to be overwhelmingly biased in favor of the administration. Also, former President, Heidar Aliyev, is known to have filled the Central and Local electoral commissions with government supporters prior to various key elections since 2003 http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/azerbaijan/index.htm. Azerbaijani non-governmental bodies were also banned from monitoring the vote. Irregular incidents such as voting chiefs running off with the ballots, ballot stuffing
, multiple voting, and vote-tampering were recorded by international monitors.
. The blanket ban on opposition gatherings was lifted after national pressure, but events leading up to parliamentary elections later that year proved this to be merely a nominal change for a very short time. The authorities denied opposition supporters the right to demonstrate or hold rallies in or near any city centres. Those attending opposition rallies that had not been sanctioned by the government were beaten and arrested in mass. Police were known to detain opposition activists, in an attempt to 'convince' them into giving up their political work. Youth movement members and opposition members were detained for conspiring to overthrow the government, a charge that has not been substantiated. After the elections not a single opposition rally was allowed.
, police abuse, and excessive use of force are rife. Defendants are often subjected to severe beating to try to coerce a confession, although electric shock, threats of rape, and threats against members of the defendant's family are also used as torture. Torture is less prevalent in post-detention prison facilities, although former inmates have alleged that security forces beat hundreds of prisoners by forcing them to run through a gauntlet, whereby they were beaten with batons. The government have taken no action against torture, or against officials who partake in torture; indeed, Vilayat Eyvazov, the head of the Organized Crime Unit, was named Deputy Interior Minister in 2005.
s. Since joining the Council of Europe
, the Azerbaijani government have released one hundred political prisoners, but many remain in custody, and opposition supporters continue to be detained without proof of wrongdoing. A number of Tylish national minority activists including Novruzali Mammadov
, Atakhan Abilov
, Alikram Hummatov
are recognized as political prisoners or refugees by the international organizations.
Amnesty International
has named imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev
and imprisoned activist Jabbar Savalan
to be prisoners of conscience, and called for the immediate release of both men.
in its annual Freedom of the Press survey with a score of 79 out of 100. The authorities use a range of measures to restrict freedom of the media within the country. Opposition and independent media outlets have their access to print-houses and distribution networks limited, or can find themselves facing defamation charges and crippling fines. Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government. During the last few years, three journalists were killed and several prosecuted in trials described as unfair by international human rights organizations. Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the opposition weekly Monitor, was shot dead in 2005, but there has been no prosecution of his murderers. Newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev
was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for reporting on the murder of Huseynov and published other views to which the Azerbaijani government objected. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2010 that Fatullayev should be released, but he remains in prison and now faces new drug charges that observers find suspicious. Human rights organizations sent a joint letter to the Council of Europe about the continued imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev in defiance of the ruling and also sent a joint letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev urging Fatullayev’s release.
In 2009, Bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade were arrested under the charges of hooliganism and sentenced to two years and two and a half years in prison, respectively. They were released in November 2010.
In September 2010 a group of nine freedom of expression organizations conducted a mission to Azerbaijan to assess the state of media freedom in the lead up to the elections. In the mission's final report Freedom of Expression Under Attack: Azerbaijan’s Deteriorating Media Environment
Reporters Without Borders
has called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) to firmly condemn Azerbaijan for tolerating escalating press freedom violations. Nearly 100 journalists were victims of physical assault in 2003. More than 50 were attacked covering violent clashes between the security forces and demonstrators after the 2003 presidential elections. Two opposition journalists were attacked in July 2004. Aydin Gouliev, editor of the opposition daily Baki Khaber, was abducted and beaten by men that accused him of "not serving his country and Islam" and warned him to stop all journalistic work on July 17, 2004. Eynulla Fatullayev
, editor-in-chief of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan newspapers, was beaten on the head in a Baku street on July 26, 2004. He has written many articles highly critical of the government and was accused by the Azerbaijani government of claiming that the Khojaly massacre
was committed by Azerbaijanis and not Armenians, while Fatullayev himself denies that he made such claims.
Using the metro might be very dangerous for opposition journalists. Security forces in civilian clothes follow them and try to push them in front of entering metro trains. The video footage of the security cameras is never made available for court in such cases. Latest attempt was against Seymur Haziyev on October 25 according to IRFS.
A number of foreign journalists have also been refused entry to Azerbaijan or have been expelled from the country for reporting unfavorably on domestic and foreign matters. Journalists who have visited the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
(NKR) or written articles which the Azerbaijani government has perceived as portraying the NKR in a positive light or Azerbaijan in a negative one have been banned from entering Azerbaijan. In June 2011, Diana Markosian, a freelance photographer for Bloomberg Markets
magazine who holds dual US-Russian citizenship, was denied entry by Azerbaijani border officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport
in Baku on account of the fact that she was Armenian
. In the same month, a journalist for the New York Times was told that he would not be issued a visa until he could explain why there was so much “negative information” about Azerbaijan in the United States. In April 2011, a Swedish TV news crew was arrested and sent back to the airport after covering a demonstration by opposition protesters.
passed a resolution condemning Azerbaijani "human rights violations" and "oppression of opposition forces". The resolution mentioned concern for Eynulla Fatullayev
, Jabbar Savalan
, and other prisoners by name, as well as general concern for the "increasing number of incidents of harassment, attacks and violence against civil society and social network activists and journalists in Azerbaijan".
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, several independent bodies, such as Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, have deemed human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
to be subpar at best. Democratic and personal freedoms have been diminished by the government, wary of revolutions in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
spreading to home turf.
The 2008 Freedom in the World report, which tries to measure the degree of democracy and political freedom in the world, labeled Azerbaijan a Not Free country, with low scores in both Political Rights and Civil Liberties sections.
Electoral rights
Although Azerbaijan is nominally a representative democracyRepresentative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
, recent elections there have widely been contested as fraudulent and 'seriously flawed.' Azerbaijani media coverage of the election is considered to be overwhelmingly biased in favor of the administration. Also, former President, Heidar Aliyev, is known to have filled the Central and Local electoral commissions with government supporters prior to various key elections since 2003 http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/azerbaijan/index.htm. Azerbaijani non-governmental bodies were also banned from monitoring the vote. Irregular incidents such as voting chiefs running off with the ballots, ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. The name originates from the earliest days of this practice in which people literally did stuff more than one ballot in a ballot box at the same time...
, multiple voting, and vote-tampering were recorded by international monitors.
Freedom of assembly and expression of political beliefs
Up until June 2005, the Azerbaijani people did not enjoy freedom of assemblyFreedom of assembly
Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
. The blanket ban on opposition gatherings was lifted after national pressure, but events leading up to parliamentary elections later that year proved this to be merely a nominal change for a very short time. The authorities denied opposition supporters the right to demonstrate or hold rallies in or near any city centres. Those attending opposition rallies that had not been sanctioned by the government were beaten and arrested in mass. Police were known to detain opposition activists, in an attempt to 'convince' them into giving up their political work. Youth movement members and opposition members were detained for conspiring to overthrow the government, a charge that has not been substantiated. After the elections not a single opposition rally was allowed.
State-authorized violence
In Azerbaijan, tortureTorture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, police abuse, and excessive use of force are rife. Defendants are often subjected to severe beating to try to coerce a confession, although electric shock, threats of rape, and threats against members of the defendant's family are also used as torture. Torture is less prevalent in post-detention prison facilities, although former inmates have alleged that security forces beat hundreds of prisoners by forcing them to run through a gauntlet, whereby they were beaten with batons. The government have taken no action against torture, or against officials who partake in torture; indeed, Vilayat Eyvazov, the head of the Organized Crime Unit, was named Deputy Interior Minister in 2005.
Political Prisoners
International pressure has been exerted on Azerbaijan to release its number of political prisonerPolitical prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s. Since joining the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, the Azerbaijani government have released one hundred political prisoners, but many remain in custody, and opposition supporters continue to be detained without proof of wrongdoing. A number of Tylish national minority activists including Novruzali Mammadov
Novruzali Mammadov
Novruzali Mammadov was a Talysh national minority activist in Azerbaijan, PhD in Philology, editor of the now-defunct newspaper Talyshi Sado , recognized as a political prisoner by international organizations, being held in violation of his rights to freedom of expression and association...
, Atakhan Abilov
Atakhan Abilov
Atakhan Abilov , is a Talysh national minority and human rights activist from Azerbaijan, lawyer and author of books on International law...
, Alikram Hummatov
Alikram Hummatov
Alikram Hummatov or Ali Akram Hemmatzadeh is a Talysh military and political activist of Azerbaijan, the president of self-proclaimed Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic in 1993, formerly prisoned in Azerbaijan...
are recognized as political prisoners or refugees by the international organizations.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
has named imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Emin oglu Fatullayev is an Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azeri-language daily Gündəlik Azərbaycan newspapers. He was imprisoned for four years in Azerbaijan for his criticism of government's policies and for his...
and imprisoned activist Jabbar Savalan
Jabbar Savalan
Jabbar Savalan is an Azerbaijani blogger and political activist. On 4 May 2011, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison on charges of dealing drugs...
to be prisoners of conscience, and called for the immediate release of both men.
Freedom of the Media
Azerbaijan is ranked 'Not Free' by Freedom HouseFreedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
in its annual Freedom of the Press survey with a score of 79 out of 100. The authorities use a range of measures to restrict freedom of the media within the country. Opposition and independent media outlets have their access to print-houses and distribution networks limited, or can find themselves facing defamation charges and crippling fines. Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government. During the last few years, three journalists were killed and several prosecuted in trials described as unfair by international human rights organizations. Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the opposition weekly Monitor, was shot dead in 2005, but there has been no prosecution of his murderers. Newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Emin oglu Fatullayev is an Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azeri-language daily Gündəlik Azərbaycan newspapers. He was imprisoned for four years in Azerbaijan for his criticism of government's policies and for his...
was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for reporting on the murder of Huseynov and published other views to which the Azerbaijani government objected. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2010 that Fatullayev should be released, but he remains in prison and now faces new drug charges that observers find suspicious. Human rights organizations sent a joint letter to the Council of Europe about the continued imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev in defiance of the ruling and also sent a joint letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev urging Fatullayev’s release.
In 2009, Bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade were arrested under the charges of hooliganism and sentenced to two years and two and a half years in prison, respectively. They were released in November 2010.
In September 2010 a group of nine freedom of expression organizations conducted a mission to Azerbaijan to assess the state of media freedom in the lead up to the elections. In the mission's final report Freedom of Expression Under Attack: Azerbaijan’s Deteriorating Media Environment
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
has called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
(PACE) to firmly condemn Azerbaijan for tolerating escalating press freedom violations. Nearly 100 journalists were victims of physical assault in 2003. More than 50 were attacked covering violent clashes between the security forces and demonstrators after the 2003 presidential elections. Two opposition journalists were attacked in July 2004. Aydin Gouliev, editor of the opposition daily Baki Khaber, was abducted and beaten by men that accused him of "not serving his country and Islam" and warned him to stop all journalistic work on July 17, 2004. Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Emin oglu Fatullayev is an Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azeri-language daily Gündəlik Azərbaycan newspapers. He was imprisoned for four years in Azerbaijan for his criticism of government's policies and for his...
, editor-in-chief of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan newspapers, was beaten on the head in a Baku street on July 26, 2004. He has written many articles highly critical of the government and was accused by the Azerbaijani government of claiming that the Khojaly massacre
Khojaly Massacre
The Khojaly Massacre was the killing of hundreds of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians from the town of Khojaly on 25–26 February 1992 by the Armenian and Russian armed forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
was committed by Azerbaijanis and not Armenians, while Fatullayev himself denies that he made such claims.
Using the metro might be very dangerous for opposition journalists. Security forces in civilian clothes follow them and try to push them in front of entering metro trains. The video footage of the security cameras is never made available for court in such cases. Latest attempt was against Seymur Haziyev on October 25 according to IRFS.
A number of foreign journalists have also been refused entry to Azerbaijan or have been expelled from the country for reporting unfavorably on domestic and foreign matters. Journalists who have visited the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic , or Artsakh Republic is a de facto independent republic located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia...
(NKR) or written articles which the Azerbaijani government has perceived as portraying the NKR in a positive light or Azerbaijan in a negative one have been banned from entering Azerbaijan. In June 2011, Diana Markosian, a freelance photographer for Bloomberg Markets
Bloomberg Markets
Bloomberg Markets is a monthly magazine published by Bloomberg L.P.. It is aimed at financial experts and professionals. It focuses on financial decisions and philosophies of major personalities in the financial world, such as the CEOs of large banks and the people who wield political power over...
magazine who holds dual US-Russian citizenship, was denied entry by Azerbaijani border officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport
Heydar Aliyev International Airport
Heydar Aliyev International Airport is the international airport in Azerbaijan located northeast of the capital Baku. The airport is the home of Azerbaijan Airlines, the national flag carrier...
in Baku on account of the fact that she was Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
. In the same month, a journalist for the New York Times was told that he would not be issued a visa until he could explain why there was so much “negative information” about Azerbaijan in the United States. In April 2011, a Swedish TV news crew was arrested and sent back to the airport after covering a demonstration by opposition protesters.
Freedom of religion
The Constitution provides that persons of all faiths may choose and practice their religion without restriction; however, there are some abuses and restrictions. Some religious groups report delays in and denials of registration. There continue to be some limitations upon the ability of groups to import religious literature. Most religious groups meet without government interference; however, local authorities monitor religious services, and officials at times harass and detain members of "nontraditional" religious groups. There are some reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. There is popular prejudice against Muslims who convert to other faiths and hostility toward groups that proselytize, particularly evangelical Christian and other missionary groups.2011 European Parliament resolution
On 12 May 2011, the European ParliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
passed a resolution condemning Azerbaijani "human rights violations" and "oppression of opposition forces". The resolution mentioned concern for Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Fatullayev
Eynulla Emin oglu Fatullayev is an Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azeri-language daily Gündəlik Azərbaycan newspapers. He was imprisoned for four years in Azerbaijan for his criticism of government's policies and for his...
, Jabbar Savalan
Jabbar Savalan
Jabbar Savalan is an Azerbaijani blogger and political activist. On 4 May 2011, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison on charges of dealing drugs...
, and other prisoners by name, as well as general concern for the "increasing number of incidents of harassment, attacks and violence against civil society and social network activists and journalists in Azerbaijan".
External links
- Human Rights Watch: Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijan's 2005 elections: Lost Opportunity
- U.S. State department urges Azerbaijan to produce 'credible' election result
- Azerbaijan's unfinished election
- Media still weighted against opposition
- Censorship in Azerbaijan - IFEXInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
- Institute for Reporters Freedom and Security