The U.S. Embassy concerned about Civil Activists Arrests

The U.S. Charge d'Affaires to Azerbaijan, Adam Sterling, organized a reception today at his residence for human rights groups, civil society activists and representatives of the Ombudsman Office to discuss the report by the State Department on the human rights situation in 2011  (http://photos.state.gov/libraries/azerbaijan/749085/hajiyevsx/az_hrr_2011_aze.pdf). 

     Human rights remain a priority of U.S. foreign policy, said Sterling. He noted that the Azerbaijan report in 2011 focuses on three topics.

   "First, is a violation of property rights. Forced evictions and house demolitions of many property owners from known areas raised questions and concerns. Property owners have complained they were underpaid or not given compensation and inadequate housing.

      Secondly, the judicial system continues to suffer from numerous problems. Many complaints of excessive interference in the affairs of executive courts, politically motivated arrests and punitive measures against lawyers.

   The third issue of concern was the restriction on freedom of assembly and expression. Very often the appeals about conducting rallies were rejected, and unauthorised rallies dispersed by police," said Sterling.

      The report focused attention on the rally dispersal of April 2, 2011, and the arrest of its  participants. Stirling welcomed the release of most of those arrested.  However, he repeated a call for a fair and transparent trial on the other two activists who remain in jail, Vidadi Iskenderli and Shahin Hasanli.

         Sterling also welcomed the National Action Plan for the effective protection of human rights, calling for effective execution of this document, signed in December 2011 by the president of Azerbaijan .

    Sterling called it "a good start," of the harmonization by the Baku Mayor Office and several opposition rallies this spring. "It's a good start and we hope it will continue. We also welcome the recent meeting of representatives of the presidential administration with civil society activists. We hope that this is only the beginning of a long and constructive dialogue," Sterling continued.

    Among other issues of concern are: the American diplomat called the arrests of persons who participated in the protest in the Guba region, the prosecution of  “Kura” civil society activists Oktay Gyulalyev and Ilham Amiraslanov, the arrest of the Talysh activist, Hilal Mamedov, and criminal charges against the photographer Mehman Huseynov.

     "We continue to closely monitor this process and in all cases underline the importance of fair and transparent judicial processes in accordance with international obligations of Azerbaijan," said Sterling.

    He called for progress in the investigation of incidents against journalists, including the murder of  the journalist Rafiq Tagi, beatings and blackmail on Idrak Abbasova and  Khadija Ismailova.

    However, the diplomat did not comment on last amendments to legislation, making  secret information about the owners of companies, creating obstacles for journalist investigations.—06C--