State Department on Human Rights Violations in Azerbaijan

The US State Department published the next annual report on the human rights situation in the world. The part concerning Azerbaijan indicates the failure of the OSCE ODIHR to send observation mission for the parliamentary elections of November 1st, 2015 in view of government restrictions on the election campaign monitoring.

It is recalled that the OSCE ODIHR report on the presidential elections in 2013 noted that the vote did not meet democratic standards and OSCE criteria.

Among the main problems in the human rights indicated in the restrictions on political freedoms, the presence of the judicial system, to carry out orders of the authorities and violation of voting rights.

Attacks on freedom of expression, assembly and association are expressed in the form of threats and persecution on trumped up charges. Also indicated is the criminal case, in which the bank accounts of many NGOs have been frozen.

"The authorities used the courts to silence peaceful dissent," the report said.

The Government restricts the right of citizens to peacefully change their government through free and fair elections.

Authorities also do not punish officials involved in human rights violations and impunity remains the norm.

There remains the practice of arbitrary detention of citizens by the Ministry of Interior and the security services.

These structures arrest and use force against peaceful demonstrators.

As specific examples of violations, the Intigam Aliyev case is reminded. For 4 weeks he was not allowed to meet with his lawyers.

On July 23, the journalist Emin Milli’s brother Nazim Agabeyov was detained and his family was not informed about it for a week. Authorities arrest relatives of activists to force them to surrender to police.

Also indicated is a violation of press freedom. According to a recent report, 13 journalists and bloggers are in prison (now their number has been reduced to 9). The Director of the Institute of Reporters Freedom and Safety Emin Huseynov was forced into hiding in the Embassy of Switzerland, and was taken out of the country by plane by the Foreign Minister of this country on June 12. In summer, the authorities increased pressure on relatives of the journalists staying overseas.

Despite the ban on broadcasting on local frequencies of the radio stations Voice of America, Radio Liberty and the BBC, authorities have allowed the broadcast of local programming representation of the Russian Sputnik.

It also indicates the politically motivated conviction of the journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

On August 8 several men attacked the journalist Rasim Aliyev for criticizing the footballer Javid Huseynov for his behavior in social networks. The journalist died in hospital after the beating.

In 2014, there were 59 court hearings against journalists and media, and the plaintiffs demanded fines of 2.5 million manats from them. The courts decided on fines of 180 thousand manats.

Opposition and independent newspapers faced tax and judicial sanctions.

The government banned public libraries to subscribe to the opposition and independent media, and the business is told not to give them publicity.

Most of the media, for fear of reprisals, apply self-censorship and avoid commenting topics sensitive from a political point of view. -03D-