Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2003 - Azerbaijan

Attacks, threats, and harassment against Mr. Eldar Zeynalov and Mrs. Leyla Yunus¹⁶

Mr. Eldar Zeynalov, president of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan (HRCA) and Mrs. Leyla Yunus, director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, became victims of attacks and acts of harassment in April 2003.

Between 20th and 23rd April, Mr. Zeynalov was in Nogorno-Karabakh accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Zaliha Tahirova, coordinator of Amnesty International-Azerbaijan, to attend a seminar on the management of NGOs in this region. Nogorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region of Armenian majority, is the main source of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and represents a particularly sensitive subject in every election period. It so happened that in April, the campaign for the presidential elections scheduled for October had already begun. During Mr. Zeynalov's stay in this region, the authorities launched a broad defamation campaign against him, accusing him of working against the interests of the country, and of having ethnic Armenian origins.

Thus on 22nd April 2003, during a program aired on a state-run television station, members of a pro-government organisation for the defence of human rights accused Mr. Zeynalov and Mrs. Yunus of being "enemies of the people". After broadcasting the personal address information of Mr. Zeynalov, they called on the audience to take action.

On 23rd April 2003, when Mr. Zeynalov had returned to Baku and following this televised program, about forty men attacked the HRCA office with eggs and chemicals. The assailants accused Mr. Zeynalov of treason before burning his effigy in front of the premises. When HCRA staff called the police for help, it seems that one of the officers explicitly asserted his support of this attack. Moreover, a member of the Organisation for the Liberation of Nogorno-Karabakh who participated in this assault declared that the HRCA office could be the target of a suicide attack, and made death threats against Mr. Zeynalov.

On 24th July, during a televised speech, the Minister of the Interior threatened Mr. Zeynalov with criminal charges if he continued his activities, and he repeated the accusations of treason.

On 25th April, HRCA was again attacked by unidentified individuals and members of the President's party. In view of the total failure of the police to react despite his repeated requests for protection, Mr. Zeynalov decided to hire bodyguards. On 29th April, the latter resigned, apparently under pressure from the Minister of National Security.

On 28th April, some forty members of the party of President Haïdar Aliev attacked the premises of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and ordered the Director of the Institute, Mrs. Leyla Yunus, to leave the country. This attack had been announced in advance on television. Despite the specific request for police protection, no police officer was in place when the attack occurred.

Relatives of Mr. Zeylanov were also harassed. Several of them were required to show their marriage certificates to authorities who were attempting to prove their ethnic Armenian origins. In addition, on 28th April 2003, Mr. Zeynalov's sister-in-law and father-in-law, Mrs. Zemfira Yusif-Zade and Mr. Isakh Tahirov, 84 years of age, were severely beaten by their neighbours, who demanded that they leave the country. The police refused to ensure their protection.

It should be noted that no investigation was opened concerning the personal attacks led against Mrs..Yunus, Mr. Zeynalov or their relatives. Furthermore, on 13th May, the police officially announced the closing of the preliminary investigation into the attacks led against HRCA premises on 23rd and 25th April.

Intimidation and acts of harassment following a petition

On 23rd April 2003, the Amal Committee (committee of intellectuals) launched a petition demanding the resignation of President Haïdar Aliev. It was signed by 126 members of the Committee, including several well-known Azeri intellectuals.

Pro-government media immediately launched a vast defamation campaign against the Amal Committee and the petition signatories. During a parliamentary session on 6th May, Mr. Shahlar Asgaro, the president of the parliamentary commission of the party in power, publicly criticized and denounced the Committee's activities and its members.

As for the signatories, they were threatened of losing of their jobs unless they publicly repudiated their participation in the petition. The board of directors of the University of Baku, for example, set up a special commission charged with the task of examining the files of professors having participated in the Amal Committee initiative. As a measure of reprisal, several of their relatives were fired, even personally threatened. The son of the poet Mr. Musa Yaqub, a petition signatory, was thus dismissed from his job.

Professor Ahmad Ibrahimov, who had also signed the petition, was dismissed from his position at the State Oil Academy. A group of prominent individuals, including Mr. Ilqar Altay¹⁷, members of the Federation of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan, set up a Support Committee to demand his reinstatement. On 6th June, the committee members met with the dean of State Oil Academy, without any incident having been reported at the time. A few days later however, the dean stated that the delegation had vandalized his office, and lodged a complaint with the police. The members of the Committee for the Defence of Mr. Ibrahimov were accused of acts of vandalism based on article 233 of the Criminal Code. As of the beginning of January 2004, the procedure was still pending.

Intimidation and arbitrary detention during presidential elections¹⁸

Following the ballot of 15th October 2003, Mr. Ilham Aliev, son of the outgoing President Haïdar Aliev, was elected President of the Republic. Many national and international observers denounced the irregularities of this election, particularly the repeated acts of intimidation against opposition candidates. In reaction, numerous demonstrations were organized, notably in the days following announcement of the results. Many acts of violence were noted, emanating first of all from the police and pro-government hooligan groups. Several hundred people were arbitrarily arrested. The human rights defenders who had denounced these violations and taken a stand in favour of a democratic government, were also victims of repression.

On 16th October 2003, Mr. Azer Hasret, president of the Journalists' Trade Union of Azerbaijan, was beaten by the police. At the time, he was recording a conference protesting against the election results that had been prohibited by the authorities.

On 17th October, Mr. Azer Mammedov and Mr. Ramil Djarchiyev, two activists from the Qazakh Human Rights Resource Center, were arrested in Qazakh. Mr. Mammedov was released a few days later, whereas Mr. Djarchiyev was still in detention at the end of December 2003, and is being prosecuted on criminal charges.

On 18th and 19th October, Mr. Mehdi Mehdiyevn, chairman of the Human Rights Centre in Baku, a grouping of eleven NGOs acting for the protection of human rights, was summoned by the police. Mr. Mehdiyevn having ignored this summons, police in plain clothes tried to break into his home during the night of 20th October. They threatened him with imprisonment and torture if he refused to make televised statements about the supposed "criminal actions" of opposition leaders.

On 21st October a group of police officers went to the home of Mrs. Nushaba Mammedova, HRCA coordinator in Gandjabasar and founder of the only independent newspaper in the Gencebasar region. Mrs. Mammedova was away from home at the time. The same day, her brother, a famous member of the opposition, had suffered harassment by the police, and her nephew had been arrested.

In the context of the autumn parliamentary session that began on17th October 2003, several members of Parliament close to government circles repeatedly made public statements targeting human rights defenders. Thus, during interviews aired on pro-government television stations, the MPs Messrs. Huseynova and Muradova called on the government to take "measures against the defenders". In turn, Mrs. Rabiyyat Aslanova, vice-president of the parliamentary Commission on Human Rights, demanded "their exile". Moreover, on 22nd October, following the violent disturbances that occurred in Bakou on 16th and 17th October, the ministry of the Interior spokesman, Mr. Sadiq Gozalov, accused human rights defenders of defaming the forces of law and order.

Legal proceedings and harassment of DEVAMM¹⁹ members

On 16th October, Mr. Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, coordinator of the Center for the Protection of Conscience and Religious Freedoms (DEVAMM) and general secretary of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Azerbaijan, was accused of having actively participated in the disturbances that arose in the aftermath of the presidential election. This was part of a vast smear campaign in the electronic media and progovernment newspapers. DEVAMM had taken part in the work of the democratic coalition Bizim Azerbaidjan (Our Azerbaijan), which brings together some thirty political parties and NGOs, and defends religious freedom without regard to race, sex or nationality.

On 17th October, police forces occupied the Juma Mescid Mosque of Baku in order to arrest Mr. Ibrahimoglu and Mr. Azer Ramizoglu, president of DEVAMM. Mr. Ramizoglu was arrested and held in police custody. He was released upon expiration of the legal three-hours time limit after being subjected to various intimidation efforts by the police. Mr. Ibrahimoglu on the other hand, was able to escape arrest and take refuge in the Norwegian Embassy of Baku from 17th to 19th October.

On 1st December, Mr. Ibrahimoglu was again arrested. On 3rd December, following a hastily conducted hearing, the District Court of Nasimi in Baku sentenced him to 3 months of preventive detention pending his trial for "disturbing the peace" (article 200-1 of the Criminal Code) and "refusing to comply with the authorities" (article 315-2).

On 4th December, the members of DEVAMM and IRLA created a Committee to protect the rights of Mr. Ibrahimoglu. The evening of that same day, the local police searched the homes of Mr. Seymur Rashidov, head of the DEVAMM press service, and Mr. Shahin Gasanov, the association's driver. As Mr. Rashidov was absent at the time, the police called him on his mobile phone and asked him to appear at the 27th police station of the Yamasal District no later than the next morning. Given the lack of any arrest warrant or official summons, Mr. Rashidov refused to go to the police station. Summoned by the Public Prosecutor on 11th December, and accompanied by Mr. Ibrahimoglu's brother, Mr. Najaf Allaverdiev, he was released after a few hours of questioning focused on committee activities.

As of early January 2004, Mr. Ibrahimoglu was still being held in the prison of Bayil, where he has been allowed visits from his lawyers as well as from representatives of OSCE and foreign embassies in Baku.

Continued harassment of Mr. Ilqar Altay²⁰

On 17th October 2003, the deputy Iqbal Agazade, leader of the Umid (Hope) party, was arrested. A Committee for the protection of Mr. Agazade's rights was established on 18th October, presided by Mr. Ilqar Altay. This independent legal expert has participated in many investigative missions, including that mandated by the Federation of Human Rights Organisations of Azerbaijan (FHROA) concerning the events that occurred in Nardaran²¹ in 2002. On that occasion, Mr. Altay had been harassed, before being dismissed from his position at the International University of Azerbaijan on 11th November 2002.

Mr. Altay was arrested on 18th October 2003, and then released after 5 days. He is being prosecuted for resisting the authorities.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

16. See Urgent Appeal AZE 001/0403/OBS 021.

17. See Annual Report 2002 and below.

18. See Urgent Appeal AZE 002/1003/OBS 058.

19. See Urgent Appeal AZE 002/1003/OBS 058 and AZE 003/1203/OBS 068.

20. See Annual Report 2002.