Washington panel: Advocates Urge Strong U.S. Response to Azerbaijan's Increasing Rights Violations

A group of activists, human rights advocates, as well as a top Azerbaijani opposition leader on Friday called on the U.S, Administration to raise its strong voice against Azerbaijan's outrageous human rights violations in the country.

"We’re heartened by the statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Baku on October 22nd calling on the government to investigate instances of police violence and hold accountable those responsible. But we should be clear. This statement is not enough,"  said Daniel Balson, advocacy director on Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International, during a panel at Washington's National Press Club, dedicated to the recent political rallies, torture, and crackdown in Baku, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports. "We need to hear senior U.S. government officials publicly raise these abuses from the podium here in Washington and to senior Azerbaijani officials," he added.

"The State Department's silent reaction to torture of the leaders of the opposition, head of Popular Front Party Ali Kerimli and members of the National Council of Democratic Forces of Azerbaijan Tofig Yagublu and Ibrahim Ibrahimli causes regret and extreme disappointment," added Jamil Hasanli, leader of the The National Council of Democratic Forces, a coalition of opposition parties and activists in Azerbaijan.

According to him, unexpected events are taking place in Azerbaijan today: "On the one hand, the social and political activity of the people is increasing day by day, on the other hand, the total repression of the Aliyev regime is has reached extreme heights. Infliction of torture was a preplanned operation of the Azerbaijani authorities against the opposition and participants of the rally on October 19," he said.

During the rally about 600 people were detained, among them were women, old people, minor young people, and even people with disabilities of different degrees. Many of them, on October 19, experienced terrible torture in different police departments of Baku city. Some medical institutions even refused to provide primary care to those suffering from police torture.

"Today being an opposition politician in Azerbaijan is a very dangerous profession" Hasanli said, adding during the latest oppositional rally, Ali Karimli, chairman of the Popular Front Party, was "one step away from mortal danger."

On October 29, a member of the coordination center of the national Council, the most active human rights defender against torture, Oktay Gulalyev, was hit by a car. "This was directly related to his human rights activities. A few years ago he was arrested with a false accusation, then the government started a false criminal case against his son and finally 2 days ago hit him with cars. He was very active in exposing the torture in the police, the killing of political prisoners and of soldiers over the investigation in detention centers, in the absence of due process and free trial. In spite of being warned several times to refuse the dissemination of information about torture, he continued to help people and prepared a report on torture in the power structures of Azerbaijan."

According to Amnesty's Daniel Balson, while on October 19, the protestors gathered to express their opposition to corruption, and limited political and civil rights, just a day after, on Oct 20th, women’s rights activists also gathered in Baku to demonstrate against domestic violence.  "Estimates vary but between 32% and 43% of Azerbaijani women are victims of domestic violence. Almost all Azerbaijani women have been subjected to violence by an intimate partner or personally know someone who has."

The protestors applied for a permit but the police denied them because their activities “might interfere with the leisure of the townspeople”. When they gathered anyway, the police violently put down the demonstration. Some participants posted photos on social media of bruises and injuries.

"Understanding why this is an outrage requires no advance knowledge of international law. We teach our children that it is wrong when the many attack the few. That it is wrong when the strong attack the week. The riot police were many and the woman's demonstrators were few," he said. "The police are strong, by their proximity to state authority, by their weapons, and by their ability to detain with impunity.  The women's rights demonstrators had none of these things. and all attempts by the government of Azerbaijan to hide behind legalisms about unsanctioned protests do not change this fundamental calculus.... These women have no international renown, financial assets of note, or connections to the corridors of power. They have little to offer the world beyond the sincerity of their pain, the justice of their demands, and the example of their courage. But that should be enough. Indeed it is far more than most," he said, adding that none of this "is surprising to decision-makers in Washington."

"The State Department's own human rights report says, in plain language, that "The government severely restricts freedom of peaceful assembly" and describes how authorities use force and jail terms to break up protests"

For Balson, policymakers in Washington have so far "failed to act in their defense is a poor reflection of their willingness to defend the things they claim to cherish."  "In word, if not indeed, this White House has repeatedly expressed its concern for women around the world who are victimized."

On November 25, 2018, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Secretary Mike Pompeo said "Every woman and girl deserves a life free from violence. The United States is committed to advancing gender equality and preventing and responding to all forms of violence against women and girls".

"Either these words have meaning or they do not. Either they represent the position if the Government of the United States or they represent empty tributes designed to placate observers. If it is the former, America’s top diplomats must press the government of Azerbaijan to deliver justice," Balson added. "That includes an end to the harassment of these activists, a full inquiry into the protestor’s violent dispersal, and accountability for those responsible.

Until this happens, we will continue to make our case to the media, to congress and to the executive," he said.

For Hasanli, Azerbaijan today is in a greater need of democratic transformation, than ever before. The country banned free expression, banned free press, strangled civil society insitutions, and created a long list of political prisoners.

Over the past 10 months, the authorities have categorically banned the holding of rallies and marches in Baku and other cities of the country. Falsification of presidential and parliamentary elections is growing year after year.

State control of the press and television, an attempt to control social networks, harassment of journalists, arrest of opposition parties’ activists, numerous political prisoners question the position of human rights and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, added another speaker Sevinj Osmangizi, Azeri-American journalist and founder of Women's Media Watch-Azerbaijan.

According to the latest data of the human rights organization, the number of political prisoners has reached 120 people.

"If we add to all the de facto ban on mass gatherings of citizens and the persecution of everyone who claims to freedom of expression, the situation in the country is a cause for shame and bitterness of a normal person, even if he, like many, is forced to keep silent," Hasanli added.

There is a hugely detrimental impact of not having access to TV Media. Citizens are chronically unable to receive information, without which it is difficult to act like a well-informed citizen. This process is growing every year at a rate of chain reaction.

"For 16 years, the country has established a totalitarian police regime. This is a very sad result of Mr. Aliyev's sixteen-year rule in Azerbaijan. October 19th rally marks a new era in Azerbaijan- when people are finally coming to streets for mass protests, and Aliyev regime is so scared that it now resorts to unprecedented torture and abuse of power," he said.

The only thing that will stop Aliyev regime, he added, is "concrete actions from western institutions,"

"Ilham Aliyev himself must be confronted for the torture of politicians and activists. His loyal executioners of torture must be targeted by sanctions using global Magnitsky Act. A message must be sent to Ilham Aliyev, before the November 2 rally that the West will no longer tolerate such extreme abuse of power," Hasanli concluded.

A.Raufoglu

Washington D.C.