D.Mijatovic: Nothing Can Justify the Suppression of Criticism on the Internet

"Human Rights and the Internet are inextricably linked to each other," was the theme of an international conference held in Baku on the eve of the Global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 6-9 November.

The organizer of the meeting is the campaign Expression Online Initiative, IGF, the Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), the Club of Human Rights and the Media Center. The conference was attended by representatives of the Azerbaijani government, civil society and the media, and international organizations.

"The Internet and human rights are mutually reinforcing, it is difficult to present them in isolation from each other," said the OSCE Special Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic. An important step in the international effort to protect the freedom of the Internet is called the adoption of 6 July 2012 by the UN human rights special resolution on freedom of expression on the Internet.

Mijatovic said that some of the state to filter the Internet, blocking sites on the pretext of protecting the public interest, national security, the fight against terrorism, extremism and hate speech. Too often, however, these measures are used to silence critical voices. "The Internet - it's not a virtual space. This is already an important part of our lives. Therefore, not correct to divide the rights and freedoms on the off-line and on-line. UN resolution aimed at protecting both off-line freedoms and on-line freedom. Freedom of expression has no boundaries," said Mijatovic.

"Attempts by the state to block sites, introduce filtering and other attempts are doomed to failure. Experience shows that no restrictions could stop the will of the people to freedom," said Mijatovic.

Concerning the situation of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, Mijatovic commended the government's policy of "open doors." She pointed out that many of those, whose arrest is a concern, have now been released: Eynullah Fatullayev, Emin Milli, Adnan Hajizadeh, Jabbar Savalan, Zaur Gurbanli, and Bakhtiyar Hajiyev. However, in the prisons still contain other journalists and bloggers.

Mijatovic said about the inadmissibility of persecution of journalists, their arrests, beatings, and the provision of other forms of pressure. She noted that the OSCE wants to work with governments to address the problems, rather than working against each other.

 IRFS Director Emin Huseynov said that in preparation for the IGF, prepared a study on the state of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, which analyzed the situation in the Internet. He noted that the government declares freedom of the Internet, rejecting criticism of the existing problems.

 Civil society activists believe that the Internet in Azerbaijan is partly free and the country has Internet dissidents. The prisons are sitting journalists, human rights activists, bloggers were arrested for on-line expression.

Another problem is the poor quality of the Internet. Azerbaijan has 3.5 million users, but most of them face outdated technology, dial-up and lack of high-speed Internet. The 3G technology and mobile service is nominal, since the rate of the Internet is low. These problems are not solved because of lack of political will of the government, he said.

   Representative of the international human rights organization Freedom House Courtney Radsch touched the practice of restricting the Internet in authoritarian states. According to her, the experience of countries in the Middle East and North Africa has shown that filtering does not guarantee the prevention of popular protests, turning to the "Arab spring." Referring to the situation in Azerbaijan, it drew attention to the poor technical development and low speed. Therefore, in the regions of Azerbaijan people cannot watch Youtube. She believes that this is done to prevent the spread of alternative information.

 International expert John Kampftner said that the Internet is directly related to human freedom. The fight against terrorism, extremism and child pornography should not turn to a human rights violation.

The President of Azerbaijan Internet Forum Osman Gunduz said that over the past 5 years, the Internet in Azerbaijan has undergone serious development. "Social media are open, there is no political and ideological censorship," he said.

 But the radio commentator for Azadlig Khadija Ismayilova disagreed.

"In Azerbaijan, there is censorship. This censorship is fear. People are afraid, as they do not want to be interrogated in the MNS," she said and pointed to the facts of the persecution of citizens for speaking out on social networks.

The Chairman of the Trade Union of Journalists and a member of the Press Council Mushfig Alasgarli disagreed with the comparison between Azerbaijan and the Arab countries. Persistent reminders of repetition of Arabic models in Azerbaijan are wrong, he said. -06C-