Amnesty International Report 2004 - Azerbaijan

Covering events from January - December 2003

Hundreds of opposition supporters were detained following police clashes with demonstrators protesting at presidential election results. Human rights defenders were intimidated and their offices attacked. Police reportedly used excessive force to detain villagers involved in peaceful protests. Political prisoners were among 160 prisoners released in December.

Background

In August President Heydar Aliyev appointed his son, Ilham Aliyev, as Prime Minister. Two weeks before presidential elections in October, he withdrew his candidacy in favour of his son, who was subsequently elected with a large majority as candidate for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) party. Heydar Aliyev died aged 80, in December.

Election-related abuses

The pre-election campaign was marked by intimidation of opposition supporters and use of excessive force by the police in breaking up peaceful opposition rallies. Widespread voting irregularities during the election included ballot box stuffing, multiple voting and intimidation of voters and election observers. Scores of election officials who refused to sign flawed election protocols during the count were reportedly threatened and detained. International observers were barred from monitoring the activities of the Central Electoral Commission as they compiled the results at the final count.

Hundreds of protesters and dozens of police officers were injured, many seriously, in clashes between opposition activists protesting at election irregularities and officers from the police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) Special Forces in the capital, Baku, on 16 October. At least one person was reported killed. Over 50 journalists were allegedly beaten by the police, and several were among the scores of protesters detained.

Many opposition supporters and their relatives were reportedly intimidated and dismissed from their jobs following the election. The state-run printing house refused to print opposition newspapers, and the authorities closed down the opposition Yeni Musavat newspaper.

Politically motivated arrests

After the post-election clashes, more than 600 opposition activists – mainly from the Musavat (Equality) party – were detained throughout the country. Most were convicted of "organizing or participating in violent activities" and sentenced to short-term administrative detention. More than 100 were still awaiting trial at the end of 2003. MVD officers allegedly used torture to coerce some opposition leaders into denouncing Isa Gambar, Musavat Chairman, who was subsequently placed under house arrest.

• On 27 October a court in Baku ordered the three-month pre-trial detention of Rauf Arifoglu, Musavat Deputy Chairman and editor-in-chief of Yeni Musavat. He faced charges of organizing violence and storing weapons in the Yeni Musavat offices. He was reportedly held in solitary confinement for 32 days and forced to sleep on the floor of an unheated cell for 18 days. He was among dozens of opposition detainees who went on hunger strike on 1 December in protest at their arrests.

Excessive use of force – update

In February police raided Nardaran, a village near Baku where in June 2002 they had arrested 15 community leaders, clashed with inhabitants protesting about local socio-economic conditions and shot dead one villager. In the early hours dozens of masked officers in camouflage uniforms, armed with automatic weapons and batons, reportedly stormed a tent in the central square, erected in protest at the June 2002 arrests and where some 50 villagers were sleeping. The officers were said to have fired at the tent and assaulted the occupants, injuring about 20. Eight men were arrested, charged with resisting arrest and illegal possession of weapons, and in March sentenced to suspended prison terms.

In April the 15 villagers arrested in June 2002 were convicted. Alikram Aliyev, Chairman of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, and Dzhebrail Alizade, Chairman of the Union of Baku and Baku Villages, were sentenced to nine and eight years' imprisonment respectively for allegedly participating in the clashes. Other defendants received suspended sentences. In June an appeal court reduced Alikram Aliyev's sentence to six years. In November the Supreme Court reduced his and Dzhebrail Alizade's sentences to suspended four-year terms.

Attacks on human rights defenders

A campaign in the state-sponsored media against prominent human rights defenders was followed by orchestrated attacks and threats.

• In February and March pro-government newspapers accused Eldar Zeynalov, head of the non-governmental Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan, of supporting Armenia. In February Ilham Aliyev reportedly said Leyla Yunus, Director of the non-governmental Institute for Peace and Democracy, and others were assisting Armenia and threatening Azerbaijan's interests by opposing construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. On 22 April progovernment organizations denounced Eldar Zeynalov and Leyla Yunus as "enemies of the people" on state-run television. Between 23 and 25 April a mob broke the windows and locks of the Human Rights Centre, burned a wooden cross bearing the effigy of Eldar Zeynalov, called on him to leave Azerbaijan and shouted death threats. The police did not interfere. On 28 April, when neighbours assaulted his sister-in-law and father-in-law, the police reportedly refused to respond to a call for protection. Also on 28 April, 40 Yeni Azerbaijan supporters outside the Institute of Peace and Democracy called for Leyla Yunus to leave the country.

Political prisoners – update

On 30 December President Ilham Aliyev decreed a pardon for 160 prisoners, including 65 political prisoners, all of whom were subsequently released, and a reduction in the sentences of five other prisoners. Those released included a number of political prisoners whom the Council of Europe had required Azerbaijan to release or retry as one of its obligations on joining the organization.