As U.S. Rights Report Reflects Abuses In Azerbaijan, Diplomats Defend Engagement

The U.S. State Department is painting a grim picture of gross violations and abuses in countries that already have poor records, in its annual "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019", TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday highlighted abuses in Iran, China, Venezuela, and Cuba in his remarks at the State Department on the release of the report. "We pray for a day when Cubans, Venezuelans, Chinese, Iranians, and all peoples can speak and assemble freely without fear of their own governments."

This year's report, which evaluates the practices of roughly 200 countries and territories, is "a sign of America's continued belief in the peoples of the world who challenge their governments to respect and uphold fundamental rights for every one of their citizens," Pompeo said.

On Azerbaijan, the U.S. report highlights significant human rights issues, such as unlawful or arbitrary killing; torture; arbitrary detention; harsh and sometimes life-threatening prison conditions; political prisoners; arbitrary interference with privacy; pervasive problems with the independence of the judiciary; heavy restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, including violence against journalists, the criminalization of libel, harassment and incarceration of journalists on questionable charges among other key concerns.

"The government [of Azerbaijan] did not prosecute or punish most officials who committed human rights abuses; impunity remained a problem," reads the report. (Full version of Azerbaijan country report can be found here)

Speaking to reporters at Washington's Foreign Press Center, Robert Destro, an assistant secretary of State for democracy, human rights, and labor affairs, mentioned that these reports are "the world's most comprehensive, objective, and factual account of the global state of respect for human rights" and that Washington is committed to using its voice and position on the world stage to draw attention to violation and abuses of human rights "no matter where or when they occur."

Asked about U.S.' leverage to push back on Azerbaijan's human rights violations, Destro told TURAN's Washington correspondent that they remained engaged with Azerbaijani government, as well as with human rights defenders, and "we intend to maintain that engagement."

Washington, he said, appreciates every opportunity to engage with civil society organizations: "When I was at the OSCE meetings in Bratislava in December, we met with civil society organizations, and one of the things that I think was perhaps one of the most impressive things for me is the degree to which the engagement of the United States and OSCE with these activists, with the citizen reporters, with civil society organizations, is so deeply appreciated."

In the meantime, he added, "we really need to be realistic about the situation that we find on the ground, and the last thing that I would want to do as a human rights advocate is put somebody in danger."

"So I'm not going to encourage people to do things that are going to get them arrested.  It's difficult enough to be a human rights advocate in many places, and to have some – somebody like me say, "Well, why don't you take this next step," that's not a good idea.  What we try and do is work, and work closely with people, and stay engaged," he explained.

The diplomat also refrained from comparing Azerbaijan to its immediate neighbors in the region, explaining that "these reports don't do any ranking." "The whole point of the reports is simply to report on facts on the ground. If you want to see what the trendline looks like in any specific country, you're welcome to look back year over year to see how things have changed."

The 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices is the 44th such report that the authors have presented to the U.S. Congress. The State Department is required by law to report annually on the status of internationally recognized human and worker rights in all countries that are members of the UN.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington, D.C.