Does the US State Department report on Azerbaijan correspond to reality?

Baku/23.03.23/Turan: The US State Department has published an annual report on human rights. The part of the report concerning Azerbaijan says: "Illegal, arbitrary killings are committed in Azerbaijan, people are subjected to torture, other cruel, inhuman, degrading acts, abuses occur in this regard, and conditions in places of deprivation of liberty are also difficult."

The State Department's report on human rights in 2022 reflected arbitrary arrests, political prisoners, politically motivated repression outside the country, the lack of an independent judicial system, illegal invasions of privacy, serious restrictions on freedom of speech and the media, and other human rights violations.

"The report also mentions violence against journalists, harassment and arrests of journalists on defamatory and dubious charges, restriction of Internet freedom, including blocking websites, de facto prohibition of peaceful assemblies, serious violations of freedom of association and movement," the report says.

The document also refers to systemic corruption in the Government and inaction in the fight against gender-based violence: "The Government does not prosecute or punish most officials suspected of human rights violations and corruption; impunity remains a problem."

The report also noted that during the year there were cases of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which resulted in the death of people and arrests.

The head of the Baku Human Rights Club Rasul Jafarov comments on the content of the report in the "Difficult Question" program.

According to him, the Baku Human Rights Club adheres to the opinion that the sphere of human rights in Azerbaijan needs cardinal reforms.

"There are extremely serious problems in this area that have been waiting for their solution for many years. In addition to the problems listed in the report, this also concerns media freedom, in particular the issue of defamation. Therefore, we believe that the report of the State Department is quite objective," Jafarov said.

In his opinion, the report gives a positive assessment of the update in December 2021 of the investigation of cases brought to criminal responsibility in the "Terter case", the recognition of the fact of the death of servicemen as a result of torture, the release of 19 servicemen convicted in this case, the prosecution of some persons guilty of torture.

The human rights activist also noted some bias in the report.

"We believe that unlike last year, in the current report, in the section concerning the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, the Azerbaijani side is held responsible for violations of the rights of Armenian servicemen. In particular, the report presents prisoners of war as detainees, does not draw a line between prisoners of war and detainees for participating in crimes," Jafarov explained.--0--