«Freedom House» criticizes the persecution of civil society in Azerbaijan

The fall in oil prices has given rise to serious problems in the transition countries of Eurasia - Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, where there is a currency crisis and budget deficits, reads the report of the international human rights organization «Freedom House», entitled  «Nations in Transit». According to the study authors, the cause of lag of democracy in post-Soviet countries became Putin's authoritarianism. In seven of the 15 post-Soviet countries is dictatorships. Their rulers remain in power for 10 years or more. The fall in oil prices undermines the stability of these regimes. "Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan over the years have failed to diversify their economies, they failed to create transparent and accountable management system, and now faced the consequences of this," said director of the project «Nations in Transit» Nate Schenkkan. In 11 countries, indices deteriorated, and in the 9 cases improvement was marked. The situation with democracy  has been evaluated on a seven point scale, where 7 points are the worst figure.

 The rating  is affected by the state of the electoral process, the position of civil society, independent media, democratic control, judicial independence and corruption. The situation with democracy in Azerbaijan is estimated at 6.86 points, Georgia - 4.61, Armenia - 5.36, Russia - 6.50. As regards for Azerbaijan,  campaign of harassment against civil society launched in the summer of 2014  continues. Particularly was  noted the arrest of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova. The report also reflects the results of the investigation of family business members of the Azerbaijani President to the offshore conducted by members of the journalistic investigation of the network of organized crime and corruption (OCCRP). In particular was noted  the possession  of real estate  in Dubai by  three children of  Aliyev amounting  $75 million. In addition, the two daughters of the head of state own a minimum of six five-star hotels in Baku, or manage them. In addition, in eight banks they have US $3 billion interest. The ruling family has interests in telecommunications, construction, transport, oil and gas and mining sectors of the country. Official Baku does not comment on the report of «Nations in Transit». However, the government rejects criticism of pressure on civil society. -16D-