11 Feb 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, mobile, News and features, Statements
In January, Index on Censorship reported on the beginning of the trial of human rights activist Rasul Jafarov, who is being tried on spurious charges. The Azerbaijani embassy has written to Index on Censorship responding to that article. This is the Index response to the embassy.
Dear Ambassador Tahir Taghizadeh,
Thank you for your letter in response to our report on the beginning of the trial of human rights and democracy activist Rasul Jafarov.
In your letter, you wrote:
“In my country, human rights and fundamental freedoms are ensured in full compliance with the national and international commitments that Azerbaijan has subscribed to. No one is persecuted for his/her political views and activities as proved by Azerbaijan’s vibrant political process and free and diverse media.”
We beg to differ with your point of view.
Azerbaijan’s record on human rights and a free press has been discussed with great concern at the international level many times in recent years.
In March 2012, Index on Censorship joined with Article 19, Human Rights House Foundation, International Federation of Journalists, Media Diversity Institute, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Reporters Without Borders and World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers to co-produce Running Scared: Azerbaijan’s Silenced Voices. The report opened with this stark warning: “The current state of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan is alarming, as the cycle of violence against journalists and impunity for their attackers continues; journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and political and civic activists face increasing pressure, harassment and interference from the authorities; and many who express opinions critical of the authorities – whether through traditional media, online, or by taking to the streets in protest – find themselves imprisoned or otherwise targeted in retaliation.”
In December 2012, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe issued a monitoring report that included the comments that the “situation with regard to basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association is preoccupying. The committee expresses its alarm at reports by human rights defenders and domestic and international NGOs about the alleged use of so-called fabricated charges against activists and journalists. The combination of the restrictive implementation of freedoms with unfair trials and the undue influence of the executive results in the systemic detention of people who may be considered prisoners of conscience. Alleged cases of torture and other forms of ill-treatment at police stations, as well as the impunity of perpetrators, raise major concern”.
In April 2013, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations work group issued its report from Azerbaijan’s universal periodic review. Among the recommendations were suggestions for improvements on human rights and more specifically freedom of expression:
• Ensure the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression in line with country’s international commitments (Slovakia)
• Guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly particularly by allowing peaceful demonstrations in line with the obligations stemming from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Switzerland);
• Put in place additional and fitting measures to ensure respect for freedom of expression and of the media (Cyprus);
• Ensure that Azerbaijani media regulations uphold diversity among media outlets, as per international standards and best practices (Cyprus);
• Expand media freedoms across print, online and, in particular, broadcast platforms, notably by ending its ban on foreign broadcasts on FM radio frequencies and eliminating new restrictions on the broadcast of foreign language television programs (Canada);
• Take effective measures to ensure the full realization of the right to freedom of expression, including on the Internet, of assembly and of association as well as to ensure that all human rights defenders, lawyers and other civil society actors are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear or threat of reprisal (Czech Republic);
• Ensure that human rights defenders, lawyers and other civil society actors are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear or threat of reprisal, obstruction or legal and administrative harassment (Sweden);
• Put an end to direct and indirect restrictions on freedom of expression and take effective measures to ensure the full realization of the right to freedom of expression and of assembly (Poland);
• Ensure the full exercise of freedom of expression for independent journalists and media, inter alia, by taking into due consideration the recommendations of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (Italy);
• Ensure that journalists and media workers are able to work freely and without governmental intimidation (Germany);
• Ensure that journalists and writers may work freely and without fear of retribution for expressing critical opinions or covering topics that the Government may find sensitive (Slovenia);
• Protect and guarantee freedoms of expression and association in order to enable human rights defenders, NGOs and other civil society actors to be able to conduct their activities without fear of being endangered or harassed (France);
• Strengthen measures to guarantee a safe and conducive environment for the free expression of civil society (Chile);
• Remove all legislative and practical obstacles for the registration, funding and work of NGOs in Azerbaijan (Norway);
• Ensure that all human rights violations against human rights defenders and journalists are investigated effectively and transparently, with perpetrators being promptly brought to justice, including pending unresolved cases requiring urgent attention (United Kingdom);
• Ensure prompt, transparent and impartial investigation and prosecution of all alleged attacks against independent journalists, ensuring that
the media workers do not face reprisals for their publications (Slovakia);
Though Azerbaijan has the modern legal framework in place to respond to these suggestions from the international community, the respect for the rule of law is sorely lacking.
In October 2013, Index on Censorship published Locking up free expression: Azerbaijan silences critical voices, which described the situation in your country in the run up to the presidential elections.
We wish that was the end of the story, that our insistence that Azerbaijan respect free of expression was based on outdated information or thoroughly implemented international recommendations.
But in 2014 the assault against journalists and human rights activists accelerated with detentions of well-respected individuals with international profiles and the temerity to speak some uncomfortable truths to the government of Azerbaijan.
These are just a few of the cases against journalists and human rights activists that we follow:
Anar Mammadli and Bashir Suleymanli
Anar Mammadli and Bashir Suleymanli — sentenced to 5.5 and 3.5 years respectively in May 2014 — are prominent human rights activists and founders of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre. They were arrested and jailed in 2013, following outspoken criticism of presidential elections in October 2013, despite international protests. Those are the same polls that invited election observers from the OSCE found lacking. On 29 September 2014, Mammadli was awarded the Václav Havel Award for Human Rights by the Council of Europe.
Arif and Leyla Yunus (Photo: HRHN)
Leyla Yunus — arrested 30 July 2014 — is the director of the Peace and Democracy Institute, which among other things works to establish rule of law in Azerbaijan. She has been charged with state treason (article 274 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan), large-scale fraud (article 178.3.2), forgery (article 320), tax evasion (article 213), and illegal business (article 192). On 18 February, her pre-trial detention was extended for another five months. Her husband Arif Yunus was arrested 5 August 2014. Arif Yunus is facing charges of state treason and fraud. Both have had their initial three month pre-trial detentions extended.
Human rights and democracy activist Rasul Jafarov (Photo: Melody Patry)
Rasul Jafarov — arrested 2 August 2014 — one of the initiators and coordinators of the campaign “Sing for Democracy” and “The Art of Democracy”, advocated for the rights of political prisoners, actively participated in the International Platform “Civil Solidarity.” He is accused of: tax evasion (Article 192), illegal business (Article 213) and malpractice (Article 308). The charges carry a possible sentence of 12 years.
Lawyer Intigam Aliyev
Intigam Aliyev — arrested 8 August 2014 — is a human rights defender and a lawyer specialized in defending rights of citizens in the European Court of Human Rights. He is charged with Articles 213.1 (tax evasion), 308.2 (malpractice) и 192.2 (illegal business) of the Criminal Code. Index was heartened to hear that Aliyev was at least allowed to sit with his lawyers in court on Feb 3.
Journalist Seymur Hezi
Seymur Hezi — arrested 29 August 2014 — works for independent newspaper Azadliq and host of the news programme “Azerbaijan Hour”. He is a member of the opposition Popular Front Party. Index reported on January 29 that Hezi was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence on charges of “aggravated hooliganism” on 29 January.
Emin Huseynov, journalist and human rights defender, director of the Azerbaijani Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS)
Emin Huseynov — went into hiding in August 2014 — is an internationally recognised human rights defender and leader of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS). IRFS is the leading media rights organisation in Azerbaijan and one of the main partner organisations of the Human Rights House Network in the country. Huseynov was charged with tax evasion, illegal business and abuse of authority after he went into hiding at the Swiss embassy. Florian Irminger, head of advocacy at the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF), of which Index is a network member, called on Switzerland to continue to host Huseynov. “His location at the embassy is justified by the level of the repression in the country, the bogus charges brought against human rights defenders in Azerbaijan and the impossibility for them to defend themselves in court, due to the lack of independence of the judiciary and the harassment of their lawyers.”
Khadija Ismayilova
Khadija Ismayilova — arrested on 5 December — is an investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She is a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. She was arrested under charges of incitement to suicide, a charge widely criticised by human rights organizations. Ismayilova is currently being supported by two petition campaigns by Index on Censorship and Reporters Without Borders. On 13 Feb, lawyer Fariz Namazly told Contact.az that new charges have been filed. According to him, Ismayilova is charged under the Article: 179.3.2 (large-scale embezzlement), 192.2.2 (illegal business), 213.1 (tax evasion) and 308.2 (abuse of power.) The charges carry a possible sentence of 12 years.
Award-winning newspaper Azadliq was forced to halt its print edition in July 2014 as its bank accounts were frozen. We reported on this in August 2014.
In September, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in your country.
In November, Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, called his autumn 2014 mission to Azerbaijan one of the most difficult of his tenure. He wrote, “In late October I was in Azerbaijan, the oil-rich country in the South Caucasus, which just finished holding the rotating chairmanship of the 47-member Council of Europe. Most countries chairing the organisation, which prides itself as the continent’s guardian of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, use their time at the helm to tout their democratic credentials. Azerbaijan will go down in history as the country that carried out an unprecedented crackdown on human rights defenders during its chairmanship.”
You mention in your letter that individuals are not being arrested for their human rights work but it seems an astonishing coincidence that all these prominent human rights defenders should all be guilty of such an array of financial crimes. And that brings us full circle to the present. Since we received your letter, there have been several developments that we would like to brief you on:
On 29 January 2015, a provisional resolution before the CoE called attention to the cases of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, human rights activist Emin Huseynov and the closure of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Further on in the resolution PACE was being asked to call on Azerbaijan to properly investigate the murders of journalists Elmar Huseynov (2005) and Rafiq Tagi (2011).
On 3 Feb, President Aliyev signed an amended media law that restricts press freedom by making it easier to shutter media outlets.
Just today, Reporters Without Borders released its World Press Freedom Index 2015, which places Azerbaijan at 162. That’s down 2 spots from last 2014.
We wish Azerbaijan’s commitment to a “free and diverse media” was more than just words and we will continue to report on these detentions – as we do globally – for as long as these words are not translated into action.
Best regards
Jodie Ginsberg
Chief Executive
Index on Censorship
29 Jan 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, mobile, News and features
Azerbaijani journalist Seymur Hezi, who works for Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award-winning newspaper Azadliq, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for “aggravated hooliganism”, according to Azadlıq Radiosu.
“Index condemns the sentencing of Azerbaijani journalist Seymur Hezi, who was arrested last year on trumped up charges of disorderly conduct. The ‘crime’ for which he is actually being punished is journalism and his attempts to tell the truth about a brutal authoritarian regime that systematically stifles dissent,” Index CEO Jodie Ginsberg said.
Hezi’s sentencing is another sign of the continuing clampdown by Azerbaijan’s authoritarian government on civil society. Earlier this week, investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova‘s pre-trial detention period was extended by a Baku court; other prominent human rights defenders who have been arrested in recent months include: Leyla Yunus, Arif Yunus, Rasul Jafarov, Anar Mammadli and Intigam Aliyev.
Hezi was arrested on August 29 2014 after an altercation in which the journalist said he was protecting himself from a physical assault and harassment, according to his lawyers.
Azadlıq Radiosu reported that Hezi’s lawyers and family are certain the arrest and the sentence are politically motivated and that Hezi is innocent.
His father, Meshqul Heziyev told Azadlıq Radiosu, “the hearing was biased and turned down all of the motions. At the end it simply carried out a politically motivated order”.
“Seymur Hezi’s arrest is a serious blow against our newspaper. He is one of the brightest Azerbaijani analysts and journalists, and a true intellectual,” Rahim Haciyev, acting editor of Azadliq newspaper, told Index at the time of Hezi’s arrest.
Haciyev said he is sure Hezi’s arrest is the result of a planned provocation and the journalist is prosecuted for publishing critical articles on the authorities in the newspaper, as well as in his online TV program “Azerbaijani Hour”, which he scripts and hosts.
In March 2011, Hezi was abducted and tortured by unidentified men. He was warned to keep quiet.
Seymur Hezi is also host of news programme “Azerbaijan Hour” and is a member of the opposition Popular Front Party.
This article was published on 29 January 2015 at indexoncensorship.org
09 Dec 14 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Magazine, News and features, Volume 43.04 Winter 2014
Campaigners outside the Baku court where members of N!DA were being sentenced (Photo: © Jahangir Yusif)
Azerbaijani activists Rasul Jafarov and Rebecca Vincent wrote an article for Index on Censorship magazine in December 2013 covering attacks on photojournalists, featured alongside a photo essay by photographers. A year later, the magazine asked Vincent to return to the issue, and cover how the past year has meant increasing risks for photographers, journalists and activists. One of the original photographers Jahangir Yusif returns to Index to illustrate the story. Jafarov is currently detained by the government, awaiting trial. Below, is a preview of the article to be featured in the next issue of the magazine.
Azerbaijani human rights defender Rasul Jafarov and I co-authored a piece for Index on Censorship magazine on behalf of the Art for Democracy campaign, focusing on the pressure faced by Azerbaijani photographers who covered risky topics such as corruption and human rights abuses. The piece ran alongside a photo story by some of the country’s most talented independent photographers.
That piece was typical of the work of the Art for Democracy campaign, which used all forms of artistic expression to promote democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan. Now, a year later, the human rights situation in Azerbaijan has worsened immeasurably. Rasul Jafarov was arrested and remains in detention, facing a serious jail sentence on fabricated and politically motivated charges, alongside a number of other prominent human rights defenders. Art for Democracy’s activities have been effectively suspended, as well as the operations of nearly all of the remaining human rights NGOs in the country.
Indeed, the past year has seen the most unprecedented of all human rights crackdowns to date in Azerbaijan, as the authorities work aggressively to silence the country’s few remaining voices. As a result, there are currently more than 90 reported political prisoners in Azerbaijan, including some of the country’s leading human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and bloggers.
Police and activists clash during the run-up to the presidential election (Photo: © Jahangir Yusif)
Rasul Jafarov’s case bears all the hallmarks of the pressure exerted on human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. He had been on the authorities’ radar for years, with his earlier work for the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety and, since December 2010, in his role as the founder and Chairman of the Human Rights Club. Perhaps most notably, Jafarov co-ordinated the Sing for Democracy campaign, which used the May 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, held in the capital Baku, as a platform to expose on-going human rights violations in the country and promote democratic change. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Art for Democracy campaign.
Alongside Art for Democracy’s activities, Jafarov worked to expose the situation of political prisoners. On the eve of the October 2013 presidential election the Human Rights Club released a list Jafarov had compiled of political prisoners, revealing a shocking 144 cases. The election itself was marred by widespread electoral fraud and saw incumbent President Ilham Aliyev re-elected for a third term in office.
In 2014, Jafarov continued working on the list and coordinating efforts among NGOs to achieve consensus and develop a joint version of the list, which would prove crucial to international advocacy efforts. Along with some of the other human rights defenders who have since been targeted, Jafarov repeatedly raised the issue at the Council of Europe, and advocated the appointment of a new special rapporteur to take up the work of a previous rapporteur whose efforts were defeated by lobbying from the Azerbaijani government. Jafarov also announced plans to launch a new campaign, Sports for Rights, ahead of the first European Games, which are due to be held in Baku in June 2015.
As a result of these activities, Jafarov faced a number of pressures from the authorities, but he persevered. He was aware of the risks, but also remained hopeful that the situation in his country would improve. He was dedicated to his work defending the rights of others and attempting to hold his government to account. Indeed he remains passionately committed to these aims even now, in detention.
After having his bank account frozen and being prevented from travelling outside of the country, Jafarov was arrested on 2 August and charged with illegal entrepreneurship, abuse of office, and tax evasion. The fabricated and politically motivated charges were similar to those used against other prominent human rights defenders. Some of the charges were linked to the fact that the Human Rights Club remained unregistered, despite the fact that Jafarov had been attempting to register the NGO with the state for more than three years, an issue pending consideration by the European Court of Human Rights. Jafarov remains held at the Kurdekhani detention centre, awaiting trial.
Jafarov is only one of many prominent human rights defenders to have been targeted in Azerbaijan in recent months. On 26 May, the chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre Anar Mammadli, was sentenced to five and a half years in jail, and his colleague Bashir Suleymanli to three and a half years on charges including illegal entrepreneurship, abuse of office, and tax evasion. Elnur Mammadov of the International Cooperation of Volunteers’ Union was also sentenced to two years on probation.
Protesters campaign for the release of imprisoned activists (Photo: © Jahangir Yusif)
On 30 July, the head of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, Leyla Yunus, was arrested on politically motivated charges of treason, fraud, forgery, tax evasion, and abuse of office. Her husband, an activist in his own right, Arif Yunus, was arrested on 5 August on charges of treason and fraud. On 8 August, the head of the Legal Education Society Intigam Aliyev was arrested on similar politically motivated charges: illegal entrepreneurship, abuse of office, and tax evasion. There are now a total of nine human rights defenders behind bars in Azerbaijan. In addition, the whereabouts of the director of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety Emin Huseynov have been unknown since 8 August, the day his organisation’s office was searched and sealed shut by police.
Parallel to these arrests, the authorities have stepped up other forms of pressure against both local and foreign NGOs, making it nearly impossible for organisations working on issues related to human rights and democracy to continue operating in the country. This has resulted in the closure or suspension of activities of many of the remaining human rights NGOs in the country. Parliament continues to tighten legislation related to the operations and financing of NGOs, cutting off vital sources of funding for independent groups and making it difficult to carry out even routine activities.
At the same time, other violations continue, such as pressure against the few remaining opposition and independent media outlets in the country. Prominent investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was arrested on 5 December, as government officials and their supporters employed new tactics in their relentless attempts to silence her. Journalists Seymur Khaziyev and Khalid Garayev, both presenters of the Azerbaijan Hour programme, were arrested on 29 August and 29 October respectively, bringing the current total of journalists and bloggers behind bars to 15. The Azadliq newspaper, the country’s main opposition daily newspaper, teeters on the brink of closure, facing serious financial hardship because of excessive fines from civil defamation lawsuits and a number of other pressures from the authorities.
In an ironic twist of fate, in the midst of this unprecedented crackdown, Azerbaijan in May 2014 assumed the chairmanship of Council of Europe, a body whose very purpose is to safeguard human rights and democratic values. Sadly, during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship, the Council of Europe, and, the broader international community, has done little to hold the government to account for its human rights obligations.
Now, with Jafarov and so many of his colleagues behind bars and the organisations they represent effectively paralysed, concrete international support is needed more than ever. Azerbaijan’s few remaining independent voices are under siege and will not be able to hold out much longer.
©Rebecca Vincent
www.indexoncensorship.org
Rebecca Vincent is a human rights activist and former diplomat who writes regularly on human rights issues in Azerbaijan. She served as advocacy director of the Art for Democracy campaign until April 2014
Jahangir Yusif is a photo-journalist whose work was featured in the original article 12 months ago, read the original article here.
Index recently was part of a protest at the Azerbaijani embassy, read more about it here.
This article is from the upcoming winter edition of Index on Censorship magazine. Subscribe to Index on Censorship magazine by Dec 31, 2014 for 25% off a print subscription.
This article was posted on 9 December 2014 and appears in print as Azeri attack in the Winter 2014 Index on Censorship magazine.
06 Nov 14 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, News and features
Two lawyers representing Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus’s have been dismissed from her case. Javad Javaldi announced his suspension on 29 October, followed by Khalid Bagirov on 5 November. This comes as Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom says the government is “deeply committed” to strengthening its cooperation with the country’s civil society.
The prosecutor general’s office has not provided explanations for the suspensions. They have also prevented Bagirov from meeting with his client Rasul Jafarov, another prominent Azerbaijani human rights activist currently imprisoned.
The lawyers’ dismissal comes less than two weeks after Yunus said she had been denied access to her lawyers. In late September, her lawyers expressed concern at being unable to meet with Yunus in person or speak on the phone with her, saying they were concerned about her physical wellbeing. She has reportedly been beaten by both guards and her cellmate and denied medical attention.
The court has also reportedly extended Yunus’s detention until 28 February. She was initially arrested on July 30 with her husband, Arif, who recently had his pretrial detention extended until 5 March. The two are charged with high treason, spying for Armenia, illegal business activities, document forgery and fraud.
Both detention extensions go against calls from the European Parliament to Azerbaijan to release political prisoners and reform human rights. Last month the European Union praised President Ilham Aliyev when he announced he would release 80 prisoners, including some human rights activists.
Thorbjørn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe and chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, wrote on Monday that Azerbaijan has been “repeatedly warned…over its poor human rights record”.
In a response to Jagland, Ambassador Tahir Taghizadeh wrote in a letter in The Guardian on Thursday that his country has “come a long way in strengthening democracy and human rights over the last 23 years.” He added that “there still exists a long way to go,” and the government looks forward to working with civil society to resolve “human rights issues”.
This article was originally posted on 6 November at indexoncensorship.org
