Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2004 - Azerbaijan

Arbitrary detention of Mr. Ilgar Ibrahimoglu35

On 3 December 2003 the District Court of Nasimi in Baku issued a notice of detention of Mr. Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, co-ordinator of the Centre for the Protection of Conscience and Religious Freedoms (DEVAMM) and secretary general of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Azerbaijan, for "active participation" in the political disturbances that arose in the aftermath of the presidential election in 2003. This notice, which in principle can be revoked at any moment, resulted in his provisional detention until his trial.

On 2 April 2004 the Court of Heavy Crimes gave Mr. Ibrahimoglu a suspended sentence of five years in prison. He was released the same day.

Subsequently, the Baku airport border police prevented him on three occasions from travelling abroad to attend international organisations' meetings, although his sentence carried no ban on leaving the Azerbaijani territory. On 13 September 2004, Mr. Ibrahimoglu was prevented from going to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Conference on Tolerance and the Fight against Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, held in Brussels on 13 and 14 September 2004.

On 6 October 2004, he was unable to attend the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw from 4 to 15 October 2004, although he previously took care to inform the Minister of Justice of his trip in a letter dated 5 October 2004.

He was again notified of this ban when he attempted to travel to Warsaw for the same meeting on 13 October 2004.

The harassment of Mr. Ibrahimoglu took place against a background of repression of DEVAMM. Indeed, since April 2004, the police attacked the Juma Mosque – headed by Mr. Ibrahimoglu – on several occasions during prayer and used violence to arrest the faithful. The public media regularly accused Mr. Ibrahimoglu and the Juma community of protecting Western interests, demanding that Mr. Ibrahimoglu choose between his activities as a human rights defender and his religious responsibilities.

Smear campaign against Mr. Eldar Zeynalov and Mrs. Leyla Yunus36

From May 2004 on, a smear campaign was launched in the pro-Government media against Mr. Eldar Zeynalov, director of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan (HRCA), and Mrs. Leyla Yunus, a member of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, after they both presented a list of Azerbaijani political prisoners to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, the Rapporteur on political prisoners of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), on 10 May 2004 during his trip to Azerbaijan. On 19 May 2004, they also presented the same list to Mr. Andreas Gross, PACE Special Rapporteur on Azerbaijan.

The electronic media, pro-Governmental television channels such as ANS-TV, Space and Lider as well as several newspapers notably accused Mr. Zeynalov and Mrs. Yunus of supporting terrorists and members of the "Chechen resistance movement" and of disseminating false information to European institutions.

This smear campaign started again following discussions, during the October 2004 PACE session, focusing on possible recommendations for sanctions against Azerbaijan, due in particular to the detention of six political opposition leaders whose release has been demanded by the Council of Europe for several years. The radio station Europa notably broadcast a report by the pro-governmental Member of Parliament, Mr. Maqsud Ibrahimbeyov, accusing Mrs. Yunus of being a Russian spy.

Sentencing of Mr. Ramil Djarchiyev37

Mr. Ramil Djarchiyev, a member of the Qazakh Human Rights Resource Centre, was arrested on 17 October 2003, as part of the fierce repression of those who denounced the irregularities in the presidential election of 15 October 2003. He had then been accused of "disturbing public order" (Article 220.1 of the Criminal Code) and of "resistance or violence against representatives of the authorities" (Article 315.2).

On 26 March 2004 the Court of Heavy Crimes gave Mr. Djarchiyev a suspended sentence of three years imprisonment. He was released the same day. However, he was not allowed to resume his activities as a History teacher in the village of Chayli, and was thus forced to find another job.

Halt to proceedings against Mr. Ilqar Altay38

In December 2003, one of the Baku district courts halted the judicial proceedings against Mr. Ilqar Altay, an independent legal expert who took part in many missions investigating the human rights situation in Azerbaijan and who headed the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Mr. Agazade, leader of the Umid party, who was arrested during the presidential elections in October 2003. Mr. Altay had been accused of "resisting the police" in October 2003.


[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.]

35. See Annual Report 2003 and Urgent Appeal AZE 003/1203/OBS 068.1.

36. See Annual Report 2003.

37. Idem.

38. Idem.

Disclaimer:

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.