On July 16 the human rights organization Freedom House released annual report on the state of freedom in the world. The document provides assessment and analysis of the situation with human rights and freedoms in the most troubled regions of the world.
During 2012 the despotic regimes in Eurasia actively fought the democratic changes. In some cases, governments known by their repression, introduced new, arguably measures to further limit dissent after long-term practice of censorship, subjugated the judicial system, and sometimes resorted to violence. As a result of government institutions in autocratic countries in the region failed to cope with their responsibilities, lost independence and weakened to corruption.
In this grim environment, Russia served as vanguard and model. With the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency, Russian authorities ratcheted up policies designed to intimidate members of the political opposition and activists in civil society organizations. While previous measures have sought to obstruct or constrain Russian civil society, the new round of initiatives were designed to neuter or eliminate any groups that dealt even tangentially with political or public-policy matters. In waging war against civil society, Putin was aided by the control over the legislature, the media, and the judiciary that he had already achieved during his 13 years as the country’s paramount leader.
Autocratic regimes that experienced mass protests in 2011 took steps to prevent further demonstrations during 2012, adopting restrictive new legislation and systematically employing repressive tactics. Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan all received downgrades in the survey’s civil society category as a result of increased pressure and new legal constraints on public assembly, religious activity, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Conditions for civil society also declined in Hungary and Kosovo during the year.
While neighboring Azerbaijan aggressively stifled political opposition, Georgia and Armenia conducted parliamentary elections under new electoral laws that emphasized equal access to campaign resources and media coverage. Some abuse of administrative resources and polling-day violations persisted, but overall competitiveness improved, and both votes yielded more representative legislatures. For the first time, the Armenian National Congress, which had formerly denounced all government institutions, won seats in Armenia’s National Assembly and began participating in parliamentary politics.
In Georgia, a coalition of former opposition parties led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili won a dramatic victory, resulting in independent Georgia’s first peaceful transfer of power through elections.
The democracy gap between Azerbaijan and its Caucasian neighbors continued to grow in 2012. The peaceful and more inclusive elections in Georgia and Armenia contrasted sharply with the brutal suppression of public gatherings in the run-up to the Eurovision song contest in Baku, and the introduction of huge fines for anyone participating in unauthorized rallies in the country. Meanwhile, investigative reports by foreign media exposed the enormous personal assets of President Ilham Aliyev’s family, prompting legal amendments that protect the secrecy of corporate ownership structures and further limit journalists’ ability to uncover corruption.
When Hungarian authorities made a surprising decision to repatriate former Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov, who had been imprisoned for brutally murdering an Armenian officer while training in Budapest in 2004, the government in Baku gave him a hero’s welcome and immediately set him free, thereby halting any progress in Azerbaijan’s negotiations with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to the rating the main indicators of Freedom House, in Azerbaijan, the situation has worsened in the following areas: 1) the electoral process, and 2) Civil Society;
3) Corruption 4) the State of Democracy.
On the first page of the report was placed the photo of the press photographer of Turan Agency, Aziz Karimov, shot during the dispersal of the rally in Baku. -02D-
Politics
-
Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
-
He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
-
On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
-
On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
Leave a review