US Congressman: Azerbaijan released Khadija due to pressure, only to jail others "when they thought our backs were turned"

US lawmakers and human rights groups on Thursday urged authoritarian governments to abandon their intolerance for dissent, and cease their crackdown on civil society and press.

"No country can achieve lasting stability with policies that violate the right to freedom of expression," said Congressman Jim McGovern,(D-MA), a senior House Democrat, Co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, in his opening statement during a hearing organized by the Commission on Thursday, July 14.

As authoritarianism has risen, respect for press freedom around the globe "has declined steeply," he said.  In many countries today, voicing dissent puts you at risk for government retaliation and harassment.

Azerbaijan, he said, "recently released famed journalist Khadija Ismayilova from prison due to international pressure, only to jail scores of other journalists when they thought our backs were turned."

In Turkey, authorities physically took over their country's largest daily newspaper earlier this year and installed their own board.

The hearing included a particular focus on an issue at the intersection of both government censorship and extremist violence - blasphemy laws.

In his testimony Thomas Reese, chairman of US Commission on International Religious Freedom, reminded that the blasphemy laws lie at the intersection of two crucially important freedoms – the freedoms of religion and expression, both of which are being challenged today.

Instead of promoting blasphemy laws or remaining silent in the face of vigilante violence,  governments, he said, "should support more speech, protect freedom of conscience for all, and promote tolerance and interfaith understanding."

"Such efforts include creating the space for believers to speak out against those who treat their religion with contempt and join others who condemn contemptuous and hateful speech directed at any religious or non-religious group."

For Congressman Joe Pitts, co-chair of the commission, the environment for freedom of expression globally appears to be growing significantly worse.

According to Freedom House, press freedoms around the world declined to their lowest point in over a decade in 2015, thanks to “political, criminal, and terrorist forces” seeking to co-opt or silence the media in their “broader struggle for power.”

In her testimony Freedom House's Vanessa Tucker named six topics that are frequently targeted by governments and non-state actors for censorship.

First is organized crime. "From Central America to South Asia, journalists take their lives in their hands when they investigate criminal networks. The risk is particularly high in areas with weak rule of law," she said.

Second is corruption. "Reporting on corruption in business and in government can earn  journalists beatings, arrests, assassination, and threats to their families," she added.

The rest on the list are - areas of disputed sovereignty, land development and the environment and "anything perceived as an insult to the head of state or top officials."

The hearing was aimed to provide concrete recommendations for how Washington can most effectively encourage the protection of freedom of expression around the globe.   

"We urge policymakers at all branches of the United States Government to speak out — both publicly and privately — with their governmental counterparts in defense of the right to free expression, to call for the reform of laws which currently are used to restrict it , and to urge the release of those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of views," said PEN America's Karin Karlekar in her testimony.

A.Raufoglu

Washington, DC