Human rights activists on human rights violations in Azerbaijan in 2021

Baku/19.01.22/Turan: The  Elections Monitoring and  Democracy Studies Center (EMDSC) has published a report on the situation in Azerbaijan with civil, political and socio-economic rights in 2021. The study was based on complaints from citizens, as well as information from alternative and open sources. The report classified 676 violations of citizens' rights based on 580 facts. Most often, the rights to social security, fair justice, freedom of assembly, expression, the right to medical care, and adequate living conditions were violated. Out of 676 facts, 310 related to civil and political rights, 366 - social and economic.

 The document noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the main factors negatively affecting the economic situation in the country in 2021. It complicated the social conditions of life. At the same time, citizens complained about bureaucratic obstacles in receiving targeted social assistance to low-income families. Shortcomings were also identified with the appointment of disability to the participants of the 44-day war with Armenia.

Despite the pardon of 39 political prisoners and the amnesty of two more, more than 100 political prisoners still remain in prison. Those convicted on fabricated and politically motivated charges staged hunger strikes and other protests. Executive authorities, as a rule, do not allow peaceful assemblies for various reasons. In most cases, attempts to exercise this right have resulted in police violence and administrative fines or arrests of participants.

During the year, independent media and freedom of speech were under pressure. A new law on media, adopted at the end of the year, is regarded as restricting journalistic activities.

In many cases, the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights are not fully implemented. These include the case of the Anar Mammadli Group.

The talk is about activists whose cases the ECHR recognized as political and demanded their acquittal. However, the plenum of the Supreme Court acquitted only a part of them. Thus, the cases of human rights activists Anar Mammadli, Intigam Aliyev, Leyla and Arif Yunus, journalist Khadija Ismayilova, activist Giyas Ibrahimov and others have not been reviewed so far.

In its recommendations, the EMDSC calls for resolving the issues of social security for low-income families, war veterans and the disabled, and improving the mechanisms for prompt and transparent investigation of appeals. It is also required to stop police abuses against activists, ensure the independence of the judiciary in Azerbaijan, implement the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the ECHR, release political prisoners, investigate citizens' complaints of torture and ill-treatment, provide the media and human rights activists with the opportunity to monitor places of detention, lift the ban on peaceful protests of citizens, lift restrictions on the activities of civil society organizations, etc.

* The EMDSC is the successor of the Election Monitoring Center, which operated in Azerbaijan from 2001 to 2008. Both structures monitored elections and referendums in Azerbaijan. -06B-