"The silence and lack of an adequate response from the international community is disappointing"

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Question: What is the last year remembered in Azerbaijan in the field of human rights? What positive developments have occurred in the area of ​​human rights this year? Or what deterioration was recorded?

Answer: Thank you for this opportunity. I note with regret that since 1993, when the current political regime was established, the situation in the field of human rights, especially political freedoms, in Azerbaijan is unsatisfactory. During these years, official Azerbaijan did not give preference to democratic government, hindered the formation of a civil society, erected a “YAP wall” (Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyası - New Azerbaijan Party) before the construction of a rule-of-law state that would ensure the rule of law, the economy was not based In all fairness, a large share of the national wealth fell into the hands of a small group, and repressive measures were taken against social and political activists protesting against all this.

Observations of the state of human rights over the past year, carried out by the "Line of Defense", which I represent, give reason to say that authoritarian tendencies in Azerbaijan have penetrated deep into the life of the state and society, and citizens who disseminate an alternative opinion have been persecuted by the administrative authorities, the impact of subjective interference in freedom of speech and thought, press and information, conscience and even creativity has expanded, and freedom of assembly, an important attribute of democracy, has been virtually prohibited.

You know, the essence of human rights is that all people should have the same rights, and these rights belong to everyone. As in previous years, the political and legal realities of the past year show that the right to equality in Azerbaijan was permanently violated, and in many cases the responsibility of people before the law depended on their property, official position, worldview, membership in a political party, public organization ... At the same time, the government, instead of supporting its citizens in the face of the pandemic and the certain restrictions it imposes, committed serious abuses, political and economic freedoms were limited, and social rights were violated in many cases. If we express in one sentence the human rights situation in 2021, the “legal entity” of Azerbaijan has become even uglier.

Question: Every month you monitor human rights violations. During this year, what fundamental rights have been violated the most? What changes have occurred in the list of political prisoners? Who was arrested? How many people were sentenced to administrative detention for political activities?

Answer: Yes, the “Defense Line”, of which I am a co-founder, prepares a weekly newsletter and a monthly report on the human rights situation. Both legal documents are addressed not only to the local audience, but also sent to international human rights organizations, international centers of political power, as well as Western and European diplomatic missions operating in Azerbaijan.

This year, security forces have interfered with the family and private lives of activists and even opposition leaders, violating their right to privacy. According to a new study published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) - an association of media and individual investigative reporters in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus), the French NGO Forbidden Stories and 17 media countries reported that using the Pegasus software developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, special services are monitoring politicians, journalists and activists in a number of countries, including Azerbaijan. At the same time, in 2021, the rights to freedom of expression, information, assembly, freedom of conscience, liberty, equality, fair trial, protection of honor and dignity, and social security were frequently violated. The government did not guarantee the protection of the rights and freedoms of everyone. The problem of political prisoners has not been fundamentally resolved. Unfortunately, under the current government there was no period when there were no prisoners of conscience and political prisoners. In fact, in Azerbaijan, where the fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms, enshrined in Section 2 of the Constitution, are ignored, administrative and criminal prosecutions for political reasons are expected. Dozens of opposition activists were administratively arrested on trumped-up "duty charges." In the past two months alone, 14 political activists have been arrested on trumped-up charges. Agil Humbatov, Lachin Valiev, Mutallim Oruj, Malik Rzayev, Shahin Hajiyev, Razi Gumbatov were prosecuted on false charges and isolated from society. Five activists detained for political reasons were brought to trial on “duty charges” of drug trafficking. When Lachyn Veliyev did not sign his "frank confession", he was blackmailed with intimate images and tortured. Mutallim Oruj and Malik Rzayev turned out to be “drug lords” after repatriation. The PFPA activist from Ganja, Shahin Hajiyev, was accused of selling drugs on a large scale after criticizing the president on social networks. Sh. Hajiyev is a chess coach, he has students who show high results in competitions. He is in such a dire financial situation that he started selling household items. And now this poor fellow has been declared a "drug lord." As we see, the problem of political prisoners has not only not been resolved, but on the contrary, thanks to extremely absurd accusations, its field of action has expanded even more.

Question: In general, what changes have occurred in the field of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of the media and other freedoms?

Answer: In April this year, the press support organization Reporters sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) published the annual World Press Freedom Index. The index is determined by the level of restrictions on access to information and obstacles to news coverage. Azerbaijan ranked 167th among 180 countries. It is no secret that the Azerbaijani government is not interested in the development of free and independent media. The reason for this is a very simple reason: officials do not want the public to be informed that government bodies are mired in corruption, about secret business operations of the top government on several continents, about bureaucratic arbitrariness and oligarchy, about monopoly in the economy, about deepening social economic crisis and a sharp drop in living standards, illegal punishments, the transformation of courts into a "legal toy", the use of torture in correctional facilities, pre-trial detention centers, temporary detention facilities, in a word about the real anatomy of the current management system, which was established thanks to a police baton and owes its existence of violence. Therefore, the blocking of opposition sites continues, there are cases of pressure on representatives of independent media. At the same time, against the background of the developing electronic world, the government is powerless to completely destroy the critical media. Thanks to the activities of foreign media and Internet television, the society gets acquainted with opposition ideas. As for the other part of your question, I would like to note that the extremely brutal treatment of activists by the police who tried to gather freely on December 1 to call for the release of the political prisoner Saleh Rustamov, the atrocity shown against Tofig Yagublu, considered one of the leaders of the opposition, is clearly demonstrate the dire situation of freedom of assembly.

Question: This year was different from the previous ones. This year we won the war for the first time. That is why there were high expectations that the government would take steps in the field of human rights and release political prisoners. But these expectations did not come true ...

Answer: During the Patriotic War, we witnessed exemplary civil solidarity. Opposition parties, civil society representatives, human rights defenders and media representatives who criticized government policies before the war showed solidarity. We expected the official circles to react in the same way. The liberation of a significant part of the occupied territories raised the public opinion of the government, and more specifically, the head of state, but this only contributed to further ignoring dissent, widened the gap between citizens and officials and intensified violence on the part of law enforcement agencies, police violence became even more violent. ...

Question: The end of the year was remembered for the Victory amnesty, the hunger strike known as a political prisoner Saleh Rustamov, the detention and beating of the political activist Tofig Yagublu for participating in the protest action under the slogan "Free Saleh Rustamov!" It is noteworthy that these events took place on the eve of International Human Rights Day and the European Union's Eastern Partnership Summit. Do you think that those who contributed to these negative events could deliberately provoke the government?

Answer: My opinion on this issue is specific: to give instructions on the detention in Azerbaijan of one of the well-known opposition leaders Tofig Yagublu, to torture him at the police station, to take him out of the city with a bag on his head and beat him again, to make his face unrecognizable, moreover, also take a picture and then let go back 70-80 km from Baku, this is an order of the level of some high-ranking officer or head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Eyvazov, but not even the head of the State Security Service Ali Nagiyev. This is a direct instruction from the elite, in my opinion, it is inappropriate to talk about any provocation here. We observe what is happening, refer to experience and draw conclusions.

Question: The end of the year was remembered for the Victory amnesty, the hunger strike known as a political prisoner Saleh Rustamov, the detention and beating of the political activist Tofig Yagublu for participating in the protest action under the slogan "Free Saleh Rustamov!" It is noteworthy that these events took place on the eve of International Human Rights Day and the European Union's Eastern Partnership Summit. Do you think that those who contributed to these negative events could deliberately provoke the government?

Answer: My opinion on this issue is specific: an order to detain one of the well-known opposition leaders in Azerbaijan, Tofig Yagublu, to torture him at the police station, to take him out of the city with a bag on his head, to beaten again beyond recognition, moreover, to take a picture after that, and then not a single high-ranking official or policeman could land 70-80 km from Baku. Even the Minister of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov, the head of the National Security Service, Ali Nagiyev, are not authorized to make such decisions. This is a direct instruction from the very top of the state. I think it's wrong to talk about any provocation and the like. We track what is happening, refer to experience and draw conclusions.

Question: What is the international reaction to the human rights situation in the country? Is it satisfactory?

Answer: The reports of international human rights organizations, as well as centers of political power show that the situation in Azerbaijan in this area is unsatisfactory. From time to time, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, based on specific facts in their reports and position papers, indicate that rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan are being seriously violated. The section of the latest annual report of the US Department of State on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan also shows that the current situation is dire. Although PACE and the UN Committee against Torture are calling for a fair, comprehensive and thorough investigation of the Tartar case, which has been on the agenda for several months this year, the government continues to ignore it. All this suggests that the government is confident that international challenges will not have any practical consequences and continues to exercise tight control. And the fact that the international community, in particular in connection with the Saleh Rustamov case, remains silent, does not show an adequate response and avoids open rhetoric, is disappointing.

Q: Do human rights defenders hold any consultations with the government on the human rights situation? Is there a joint search for a way out? Or does the government reject human rights defenders and does not find it necessary to correct this situation? What do you see as a way to improve the human rights situation?

Answer: It is no secret that The Defense Line, of which I am a co-founder, is known as an organization rightly criticizing the government's legal and human rights policies. As mentioned above, this is reflected in our weekly newsletters and monthly reports. At the same time, we are interested in open contacts with government officials, in particular with the ombudsman and representatives of law enforcement agencies, to improve the situation, which continues to deteriorate. So far, we have met with the Commissioner for Human Rights Sabina Aliyeva, considered ways of cooperation and decided to establish contacts once a quarter. Elshad Hajiyev, head of the public relations and media department of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, gave a positive response to our appeal and agreed to cooperate, noting that it would be mutually beneficial. At the same time, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on human rights, Zahid Oruj, expressed his readiness to meet with the "Line of Defense" through the media. I believe that this will happen in the coming days, and I note that our communication with government circles is transparent, the agenda and results of the meeting are open to the public. Our goal is to make at least some contribution to the creation of the rule of law and civil society in Azerbaijan.