Amnesty International Report 2007

REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN

Head of state: Ilham Aliyev
Head of government: Artur Rasizade
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
International Criminal Court: not ratified
Rights to freedoms of expression and assembly were restricted. Police
routinely used force to disperse demonstrations. Opposition
journalists were attacked, imprisoned or fined on criminal defamation
or dubious drugs-related charges. Opposition politicians were denied
rights to due process and reportedly in some cases medical care and
access to legal counsel of their own choosing.
A journalist was extradited to Turkey despite being at risk of torture
or other ill-treatment. People internally displaced by the conflict in
Nagorny Karabakh in 1991-94 had restricted opportunities to exercise
their economic and social rights.

Freedom of expression under attack
Rights to freedoms of expression and assembly were routinely restricted.
Police dispersed authorized and unauthorized meetings, reportedly with
excessive force on occasion.

¢ Two serious assaults on opposition journalists Fikret Hüseynli and
Baxaddin Xaziyev, attacked in March and May respectively by unidentified
assailants, were unsolved at the end of 2006.

¢ Two further assaults by unidentified men took place in late
December. Ali Orucov, press secretary of the opposition Azerbaijan
National Independence Party, suffered bruising and a fractured
finger. Nicat Hüseynov, a journalist with the Azadl¹q
newspaper, was hospitalized with head and internal injuries and a stab
wound after being attacked in the street in broad daylight.

¢ No progress was made in investigating the murder in 2005 of
newspaper editor Elmar Hüseynov, widely believed to have been
killed because of his criticism of political corruption.

¢ Criminal defamation proceedings were brought against several
individuals and newspapers. They resulted in the imprisonment of two
journalists, who were pardoned and released in October, and a number
of suspended sentences and heavy fines, in one case leading to the
closure of independent newspaper Realny Azerbaydzhan.

¢ Well-known satirist and government critic Sakit Zahidov of the
Azadl¹q newspaper was arrested on charges of drug-dealing in
June. He claimed drugs had been forcibly planted on him after he was
abducted and then arrested by plain clothes policemen. After no
evidence of drug-dealing was presented at his trial, the charge was
reduced to use of illegal drugs. However, a urine test at the time of
arrest reportedly showed no evidence of drug usage, and doctors called
as witnesses admitted that their diagnosis of Sakit Zahidov as a drug
addict was based on 30 minutes’ visual observation only. He was
sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. His appeal was rejected in
December; reportedly no new evidence or witnesses were presented at
the hearing.

¢ On 24 November the Azadl¹q and Bizim Yol newspapers, the
Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety (a media freedom
non-governmental organization with close links to Azadl¹q), the
independent journalists’ association Yeni Nesil and the Turan news
agency were forcibly removed by police from their premises in Baku
following a legal ruling they claimed was unfounded and politically
motivated. Also on 24 November the National Radio and Television
Council decided not to extend the broadcasting licence of the ANS
television company, widely regarded as the most independent in the
country. The cessation of ANS broadcasting further ended the
retransmissions on ANS frequencies of international radio stations
such as the BBC, Radio Liberty and the Voice of America. Following
international and national appeals, on 12 December ANS was reinstated
temporarily pending completion of a tender for its frequencies
scheduled for January 2007.

Unfair trial concerns
¢ Three leaders of the Yeni Fikir youth movement arrested in 2005
on charges of plotting a coup d’état were imprisoned in July
after an unfair trial. At the trial, only witnesses for the
prosecution gave evidence and no jury was appointed, in contravention
of Azerbaijani law. Allegations of torture in the case of one of the
accused, Ruslan Baôirli, were not investigated, and medical
care was reportedly denied to another, Said Nuri.

¢ Opposition party activist Qadir Müsayev was imprisoned in
May for seven years following conviction on charges of drug
dealing. Reports suggested the charges were fabricated because of his
refusal to sign fraudulent election result protocols when serving as a
polling station official.

¢ Former Minister for Economic Development Farhad Aliyev and his
brother Rafiq (no relation to President Aliyev), arrested in October
2005 on charges of plotting to violently overthrow the government,
were allegedly denied due process in pre-trial detention. According to
reports, their right to legal counsel of their choosing was
consistently denied from the time of their arrest, and Farhad Aliyev
was not allowed access to appropriate medical care. No hearings have
been heard in the brothers’ case, and no trial date set. Their
property has been expropriated and family members allegedly
intimidated.

Risk of torture
On 13 October, Kurdish journalist Elif Pelit was extradited to Turkey,
where she was detained on charges of membership of the Kurdish
Workers’ Party (PKK). In 1999 she had been granted asylum, and
subsequently citizenship, in Germany. She was first arrested in
Azerbaijan on 4 November 2004, for crossing the border illegally from
Iraq while on assignment for Mesopotamia, a Kurdish news agency linked
to the PKK. Fined and released in March 2005, she was immediately
rearrested under Turkey’s extradition order, and her extradition was
confirmed by the Supreme Court in October 2005.

Restricted rights for the displaced
People internally displaced by the conflict in Nagorny Karabakh
continued to have their freedom of movement restricted by a cumbersome
internal registration process linking eligibility for employment and
social services to a fixed place of residence. Although there was
progress in moving the displaced out of temporary shelters and
providing housing, many new purpose-built settlements were located in
remote and economically depressed areas. People re-housed in these
settlements faced a lack of jobs and access to basic services such as
education and health care.

AI country reports/visits
Reports
¢ Europe and Central Asia: Summary of Amnesty International’s
concerns in the region, January-June 2006 (AI Index: EUR 01/017/2006)

¢ Commonwealth of Independent States: Positive trend on the
abolition of the death penalty but more needs to be done (AI Index:
EUR 04/003/2006)

Visits
AI delegates visited Azerbaijan in April and July.