NEW US AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN IS URGED ON FACEBOOK TO VISIT POLITICAL PRISONERS UPON HIS ARRIVAL
AzeriReport
Feb 12 2015
BAKU. February 12, 2015. The new US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, due to
arrive there today, has asked the local public for an advice. A post
on the US Embassy’s Facebook page requested the Azerbaijani Facebook
users to “vote on his first cultural excursion!” The Ambassador’s
own intro video, also posted on the Embassy’s FB page, asked the same
question from the Azerbaijani audience.
The overwhelming majority of comments under the post urge the
Ambassador to take his first visit to the Kurdakhani prison near
the capital Baku, where many of the country’s political prisoners
are held. Because so many prominent intellectuals, civil activists,
and well-educated youth leaders have been imprisoned in the Kurdakhani
jail, it has been dubbed by some as “Kur De Khani University”.
The Embassy’s post specifically referred to a “cultural excursion” and
Ambassador’s video named a few examples of cultural and natural sites,
such as Yanardag, a hill with naturally gas fire burning on the top,
the pre-historic Gobustan area, and Beshbarmag Mountains in the north.
But they seem to have got a different kind of response from what they
expected. The Azerbaijani public appears to have clearly spoken out
in favor of paying attention to the rapidly deteriorating situation
with human rights in Azerbaijan.
Some even poked at the suggestion of seeing natural sites in the midst
of the ongoing severe crackdown on civil society, including US radio
station Radio Liberty and other Western-backed institutions. One
comment said: “First you must go to Yanardag. Thats joke Of course
first you must go Kurdekhani Prison its near to center. Because too
many political prisoners and journalists in jail now. Good luck!”.
Some also advised to go to the Alley of Martyrs, a memorial cemetery
for those fallen during the fight for Azerbaijan’s independence
from the Sovit Union and in Karabakh war with Armenia. Few asked to
visit families of Azerbaijani hostages held by Armenian forces and
see refugees from the Karabakh conflict. But the great majority of
over 170 comments by 9 AM EST today pointed to the Kurdekhani jail
and the urgent need to deal with the issue of political prisoners in
the country.
One commenter expressed hopes that “New Ambasador will not be bowing
before the statue of Aliyev”. She was referring to the infamous visit
by Ambassador Richard Morningstar, Mr. Cekuta’s predecessor. Mr.
Morningstar stirred a controversy when at his first public appearance
in Azerbaijan as the US Ambassador he bowed down to the giant statue
of Heydar Aliyev – the late Azerbaijani dictator and former Soviet
Communist Politburo boss and KGB general, who is the founder of the
ruling regime and also is the father of the current president.
The US Embassy in Baku has also come under criticism recently
for failing to provide adequate help to the persecuted prominent
Azerbaijani rights activist, Emin Huseynov, whose wife is an American
citizen. An article in Foreign Policy (FP) magazine says the Mr.
Huseynov tried to seek help from the US Embassy in Baku in face of an
imminent imprisonment but was denied protection. He had to go to the
Swiss Embassy instead, where he has received protection and has been
hiding for the past 6 months. The FP article also cites the case of
a US Citizen Said Nuri, a former Azerbaijani dissident, who has been
detained during his recent visit to Azerbaijan and complained about
the lack of adequate help from the US Embassy there.
Whether the Ambassador will heed the loud and clear calls to visit
the political prisoners as the first priority, whether he will
shy away from such a visit or if he too will choose to bow down to
the dead local dictator remains to be seen, as he is arriving to
Azerbaijan today. But the Embassy’s response to the comments on its
post promised: “Friends, thank you so much for taking the time to
share your suggestions in such a creative way. We hear you and will
make sure the Ambassador does too!”
Below are some print-screens from the Facebook page of the US Embassy
in Baku and comments under it (Azeri Report):