28 Oct 2017 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Letters, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Europe and Central Asia, Statements
Federica Mogherini and Ilham Aliyev. Credit: EEAS/CC BY
A coalition of 37 human rights NGOs has sent a letter to the EU member state heads and EU leaders ahead of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Brussels to participate in the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit on 24 November 2017. The NGOs urge the EU member state heads and leaders to use the summit to call on president Aliyev to end the current human rights crackdown in Azerbaijan and commit to concrete steps in this regard, including the release of individuals imprisoned on politically motivated charges and reforms of repressive NGO legislation.
The letter was sent on 27 October to the heads and foreign ministers of the 28 EU member states, as well as to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani. The letter (as addressed to Federica Mogherini) can be read below or downloaded here.
Subject: Human Rights in Azerbaijan on the eve of the Eastern Partnership Summit
Brussels, 27 October 2017
Dear Ms Federica Mogherini,
We, the undersigned organisations, are writing ahead of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Brussels to participate in the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit on 24 November. We urge you to use any opportunity you will have during the summit to call on president Aliyev to end the human rights crackdown and commit to concrete and sustainable human rights reforms in Azerbaijan. These include releasing individuals imprisoned on bogus, politically motivated charges; and reforming legislation that effectively prevents independent non-governmental organisations from operating and accessing funding.
Among the 20 Deliverables for the Eastern Partnership by 2020, the European Union has, notably, identified a vibrant civil society as a pre-requisite for “democratic, stable, prosperous and resilient communities and nations.”
Yet in recent years, the Azerbaijani government’s actions sharply contradict the latter and the spirit of this important Eastern Partnership commitment. Azerbaijan has adopted and enforced laws and regulations that severely restrict, rather than foster, a vibrant civil society. It has eliminated independent media, heavily filtered internet, and imprisoned and otherwise sought to silence independent journalists, civic and political activists who are essential to any kind of civil society envisaged by the Eastern Partnership.
The government’s continued crackdown on civil society and independent media has coincided with negotiations on the new, enhanced bilateral agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan. We firmly believe that the pace of those negotiations should largely depend on the progress Azerbaijan is willing to make in respect for fundamental rights.
Although in 2016 the government released 17 unjustly imprisoned human rights defenders and government critics, their convictions stand, and some face travel restrictions and are unable to do their work without undue government interference; those released on suspended sentences could also be sent back to prison. The authorities continue to use bogus, tax-related, and other politically motivated criminal charges to jail critical journalists and bloggers; at least 11 of them are currently in prison.
Azerbaijan is ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2017 World Freedom Index. In May 2017, unidentified people abducted journalist Afgan Mukhtarli in neighbouring Georgia and illegally brought him to Azerbaijan, where the authorities pressed bogus criminal charges against him. In August, the authorities launched an investigation against Azerbaijan’s last remaining independent news agency, Turan, and a criminal case against its founder and chief editor, Mehman Aliyev, who is now under house arrest on trumped-up tax evasion and other charges. In May 2017, authorities blocked the websites of Azadliq, the newspaper of one of Azerbaijan’s main opposition parties, and of three news outlets that have to operate from abroad: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Azerbaijan Service, Meydan TV, and Azerbaycan Saati. In March, a court sentenced Mehman Huseynov, the chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), and well-known anti-corruption blogger, to two years in prison for allegedly defaming the staff of a police station. Huseynov had publicized how several police officers arbitrarily detained and beat him, and used electric shock against him in January.
Many government critics or political opposition activists remain behind bars. Among them is Ilgar Mammadov, the leader of a pro-democracy opposition movement who in 2013 tried to run for president and who has been in prison since his arrest in early 2013 on fabricated charges of inciting violent protests. The government has ignored a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights and defied nearly a dozen resolutions by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe calling for Ilgar Mammadov’s release. On 25 October, the Committee took the unprecedented decision and triggered the infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan, provided by Article 46 § 4 of the European Convention, following its failure to implement the Court’s judgment on Mammadov’s case. The proceedings could eventually lead to the Council of Europe sanctioning Azerbaijan, for example by suspending its voting rights in the Parliamentary Assembly.
Non-governmental organisations in Azerbaijan face serious obstacles to operating due to laws and regulations that require both donors and grantees to separately obtain government approval for every grant under consideration. The government has used broad discretion to deny this approval, and the authorities have convicted and imprisoned NGO leaders who failed to obtain it.
In January 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers slightly simplified the procedure by which non-governmental groups must register their funding, but this has not reduced the discretion the authorities have to arbitrarily deny funding approval.
Since 2015, Azerbaijan’s status in two international initiatives has been downgraded due to the government’s failure to meet specific commitments to foster civil society. These include suspension of Azerbaijan’s status by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which promotes revenue transparency in the gas, oil, and mining industries, and downgrading to ‘inactive’ status by the Open Government Partnership, a voluntary initiative promoting government transparency and accountability.
In October 2017, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted two strongly worded resolutions on Azerbaijan, urging the government to cease its unrelenting crackdown against critics.
At a time when the Azerbaijani government’s defiance of its civil-society commitments has prompted two standards-based organisations to downgrade Azerbaijan’s status, and has driven the Council of Europe member states to take unprecedented collective action on Azerbaijan’s blatant breach of the European Convention, the European Union appears eager to conclude a partnership agreement with the government.
The European Union is a values-based institution. While it has common interests with Azerbaijan, shared interests without shared values will not lead to a strong and reliable partnership. Instead, it is likely to lead to a situation in which Azerbaijan believes European values are negotiable. This risk is illustrated by recent investigations by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project revealing that members of Azerbaijan’s political elite were engaged in establishing and making use of a money laundering scheme and slush fund amounting to USD 2.9 billion, some of which was used to attempt to influence several European politicians to, among other things, whitewash Azerbaijan’s human rights record.
Under these circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that the EU leaders convey the message to President Aliyev that the conclusion of any new agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as the quality of the EU-Azerbaijan relationship, depends on the Azerbaijani government’s steps to address the EU’s human rights concerns. The EU would send the wrong political message to the Azerbaijani and other governments if it fails to bring meaningful political consequences for the continued detention of critics, human rights defenders and media professionals.
We urge the heads of the EU member states and the EU to abide by the obligations under article 21 of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as the commitments spelled out in the EU’s Strategic Framework for Human Rights and Democracy to “[…] promote human rights in all areas of its external action without exception”. In the most recent Foreign Affairs Council conclusions, the EU and its member states committed to “promoting stronger positions on civic freedoms and against any reduction in the space for civil society to act.”
During your meeting with President Aliyev, at the Eastern Partnership Summit, we urge you to insist on:
The Immediate and unconditional release of Ilgar Mammadov and the prompt and unconditional release of all other wrongfully imprisoned human rights defenders and civil society and political activists who were prosecuted in retaliation for their legitimate activities.
Absolute respect for free speech and media freedoms, including the prompt and unconditional release of all journalists and social media activists wrongfully put in detention; the dropping of all charges against Mehman Aliyev, and an end to the investigation against Turan.
An immediate end to the use of travel bans to arbitrarily restrict freedom of movement and professional activity, including in respect of investigative journalist Khadija Ismaiylova, human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, and others.
Reform of laws and regulations on nongovernmental organisations and their access to foreign funding, in accordance with the Venice Commission recommendations.
We thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Signatory organisations:
1. Amnesty International
2. ARTICLE 19
3. Austrian Helsinki Association – For Human Rights and International Dialogue
4. Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House
5. Bir Duino
6. Center for Civil Liberties
7. Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights
8. Civil Rights Defenders
9. Crude Accountability
10. FIDH, International Federation for Human Rights
11. Freedom Files
12. Freedom House
13. Front Line Defenders
14. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
15. Human Rights Center “Viasna”
16. Human Rights Center of Republic of Azerbaijan (HRCA)
17. Human Rights Club
18. Human Rights Monitoring Institute
19. Human Rights Watch
20. Index on Censorship
21. Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)
22. International Media Support (IMS)
23. International Partnership for Human Rights
24. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
25. KRF Public Alternative
26. Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights (Germany/Switzerland)
27. Macedonian Helsinki Committee
28. Moscow Helsinki Group
29. Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)
30. Netherlands Helsinki Committee
31. Norwegian Helsinki Committee
32. OMCT – World Organisation Against Torture
33. PEN International
34. Public Association “Dignity”
35. Public Verdict Foundation
36. Regional Center for Strategic Studies
37. Reporters Without Borders
27 Oct 2017 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements, Turkey, Turkey Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Leading freedom of expression organisations have submitted third-party interventions in ten cases against jailed Turkish journalists to which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has given priority status. The interventions offer detailed legal analyses of the principles at stake in the cases of the detained journalists.
The cases before the ECtHR concern the detention of board members from the Cumhuriyet newspaper, along with the cases of journalists Murat Aksoy, Şahin Alpay, Ahmet and Mehmet Altan, Ali Bulac, Ayse Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Şık, Deniz Yücel, and Atilla Taş.
The separate interventions include submissions from the Media Legal Defence Initiative, PEN International, ARTICLE 19, the Association of European Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the European Federation of Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Index on Censorship, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, the International Senior Lawyers Project and Reporters without Borders. The organisations worked with a group of British lawyers, including Eddie Craven of Matrix Chambers, in drafting the interventions.
The briefs urge the Court to hold that the detention of a journalist is “subject to the strictest scrutiny”, and that such measures in response to a journalist’s work can only be justified in “extreme and exceptional cases.” They underline that “the deliberate and arbitrary use of the criminal law to target journalists and other media for exercise of freedom of expression and opinion that may be critical of government for the ulterior purpose of punishing and preventing dissemination of critical opinions amounts to a violation” of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a state party.
“The extraordinary abuse of power by the Turkish state towards the detained journalists is symptomatic of a relentless crackdown on all dissenting voices since last July’s attempted coup. These journalists have been deprived of an independent and effective judicial system in their own country. These urgent cases before the ECtHR therefore are an opportunity to not only redress the injustice in these egregious instances but to give wider protection to the Turkish media and society as a whole,” said Sarah Clarke, PEN International.
“The volume of cases concerning detained Turkish journalists that are coming before the European Court are indicative of the dire state of press freedom in the country,” said Padraig Hughes, the Media Legal Defence Initiative’s Legal Director, “these cases offer the European Court an important opportunity to take a stand against the widespread deprivation of liberty of those who have been willing to criticise the Turkish Government, and to recognise that the real purpose behind these detentions is to deter journalists from speaking out in the future.”
“The number of Turkish cases on the Court’s docket should come as no surprise. While some journalists are released – such as Murat Aksoy and Atilla Tas this week – still others are detained. The revolving doors of Turkey’s jails just serves to underscore the arbitrariness of these detentions”; said Gabrielle Guillemin, Senior Legal Officer at ARTICLE 19. “With the independence of the Turkish judiciary under serious threat, the Court in Strasbourg is the last hope journalists have to obtain justice: these cases present the Court with a unique opportunity to protect freedom of expression in Turkey”; she added.
Turkey is currently the world’s largest prison for journalists, with over 150 currently in detention. Turkey has now been under a State of Emergency for 16 months, which has enabled an unprecedented repression of the free press and critical voices.
Third party interventions represent an additional tool to help promote and protect human rights at the European Court of Human Rights. They are an opportunity for civil society to assist the courts by providing an independent analysis of the human rights principles and standards at issue in a case, as well as any relevant international and comparative human rights law. The UN Special Rapporteur, David Kaye, and Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, have also intervened on these critical cases.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mapping Media Freedom” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times-circle” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Since 24 May 2014, Mapping Media Freedom’s team of correspondents and partners have recorded and verified 3,597 violations against journalists and media outlets.
Index campaigns to protect journalists and media freedom. You can help us by submitting reports to Mapping Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”3″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1509113416127-927fc9f0-14f9-6″ taxonomies=”8862″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
26 Oct 2017 | Events
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Private view, charity sale
When: Tuesday 21 November 6-8pm
Where: Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, London WC2H 7HP
Tickets: Free. Registration required via [email protected]
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Exhibition
When: 21 November to 7 December, Mon – Fri 10am to 8pm, Sat 10am to 5pm, Sun Closed
Where: Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, London WC2H 7HP
Tickets: Free.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Workshop
With Banx Cartoons and The Surreal McCoy
When: Saturday 25 November 2-4pm
Where: Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, London WC2H 7HP
Tickets: Free. Registration required via Eventbrite.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Cartoons and censorship
A discussion with cartoonist Andy Davey, Jodie Ginsberg of Index on Censorship, Guardian and Index on Censorship magazine cartoonist Martin Rowson and via video link: Malaysian cartoonist Zunar and Robert Russell, Cartoonists Rights Network International.
When: Tuesday 28 November 6-8pm
Where: Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, London WC2H 7HP
Tickets: Free. Registration required via Eventbrite.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Join the UK’s Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation, Cartoonists’ Rights Network International and Index on Censorship – to try to bring the plight of persecuted cartoonists to the fore.
Repressive governments the world over fear cartoonists. Cartoonists get straight to the point.
Images remain in the public eye longer than do acres of type. While we in the UK and Europe generally accept often excoriating depictions of our leaders, this is definitely not the case in the rest of the world. Here, politicians actually applaud critical and often insulting drawings of themselves, sometimes even assembling personal collections thereof. Not so elsewhere. In at least one verified instance, a foreign cartoonist was visited by government agents and had his hands broken. Doubtless there are others.
Repressive governments, fearful of the truth, regularly imprison cartoonists.
This exhibition seeks to do that. Whilst it is not easy to highlight a repressive government’s treatment of any given cartoonist because that government will often react by threatening the cartoonist’s family and friends, any and all proceeds from this exhibition will go towards trying to alleviate the conditions many cartoonists the world over have to live with.
More information[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
26 Oct 2017 | Bahrain, Bahrain Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”91128″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Bahraini authorities yesterday transferred human rights defender Nabeel Rajab from a clinic to the notorious Jau Prison despite severe medical risks, subjecting him to humiliating treatment on arrival.
Prison officials have imprisoned Rajab in the very same cell in which he spent his previous two-year sentence. On arrival in Jau Prison, guards immediately searched him in a humiliating manner and shaved his hair by force. They further punished him by confiscating his books and clothes. Last night, guards raided his cell and began shouting; the prison officials also repeated their search of him in the middle of the night, in an apparent move to punish and humiliate the human rights defender.
One of Rajab’s charges is that he spoke out about the degrading treatment in Jau Prison, which he now endures himself. Yet Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted for speech-related crimes; he is instead detained in a cell with people convicted of being transgender, which is considered a criminal offence in Bahrain.
Yesterday Rajab’s wife had a call from Bahrain’s Criminal Investigative Directorate (CID) to tell her that her husband was to be transferred and she needed to collect his belongings, as he would no longer require them. This is the second week that prison officials have cancelled family visits with no explanation.
In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for vital surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before having recovered from his operation, and his health deteriorated significantly. From there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa).
The previous month, in March 2017, Mohammad Sahwan died of sudden cardiac arrest in Jau Prison, the country’s largest long-term male detention facility. Sahwan was a victim of excessive use of force by police in 2012, and was the first political detainee to die in Jau Prison since 2011.
In early 2017, the Government of Bahrain intensified restrictions on inmates at Jau Prison, particularly targeting political prisoners and prisoners of conscience for increased abuse. Prison officials subjected the remaining eleven members of the “Bahrain 13” to severe deprivation of medical care.
Nabeel Rajab’s Charges
Rajab is currently serving a two-year prison sentence, after having been sentenced in absentia on 12 July to two years in prison on charges of “spreading false news” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code. His appeal began in September, but was this week postponed to 8 November for final arguments.
Rajab has been detained since his arrest on 13 June 2016. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”
Rajab faces a concurrent trial in which he faces up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his tweets exposing torture in a Bahraini prison and criticising the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen. In September 2017, a new set of charges were brought against Rajab related to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges related to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016. The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1509026477209-453af21c-bd2e-0″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
