Freedom in the World 1999 - Azerbaijan

1999 Scores

Status: Partly Free
Freedom Rating: 5.0
Civil Liberties: 4
Political Rights: 6

Overview

Azerbaijan's long-serving authoritarian ruler, President Heydar Aliev, underwent heart bypass surgery in April, putting much of the country's political and economic decisions on hold during his recuperation period and renewing speculation about his possible eventual successor. In July, the adoption of a controversial local elections law, which was criticized by the opposition, paved the way for the country's first municipal elections held on December 12.

Persia and the Ottoman Empire competed for Azeri territory in the sixteenth century, with the former gaining control in 1603. The northern sector, ceded to Russia in the early 1800s, briefly joined Armenia and Georgia in the Transcaucasus Federation after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence the following year, but was subdued by the Red Army in 1920. In 1922, it entered the Soviet Union as part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Republic, becoming a separate Soviet republic in 1936. Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union following a referendum in 1991.

In 1992, Abulfaz Elchibey, leader of the nationalist opposition Azerbaijani Popular Front (APF), was elected president in a generally free and fair vote. A military coup in mid-1993 ousted Elchibey from power and installed former First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party Heydar Aliev as president. In October 3 presidential elections, deemed undemocratic by foreign election observers, Aliev reportedly received 98.8 percent of the vote. Azerbaijan's first post-Soviet parliamentary elections, held in November 1995, were regarded as neither free nor fair, with five leading opposition parties and some 600 independent candidates barred from the vote that saw President Aliev's Yeni Azerbaijan party win most seats. A new constitution adopted that year further strengthened Aliev's already sweeping powers.

On October 11, 1998, the incumbent Aliev was chosen president with more than 70 percent of the vote in an election characterized by serious irregularities, including election law violations and a lack of transparency in the vote-counting process. Aliev's closest challenger, Etibar Mamedov of the Democratic Party of Independence of Azerbaijan, finished second with 11 percent.

Aliev underwent heart surgery in the United States on April 29, 1999, returning to Azerbaijan after almost two months of recuperation in Turkey. During his absence, most important political and economic developments came to a standstill in a country in which Aliev makes virtually every major government decision. His illness further highlighted questions about the country's future and his possible successor. Many suspect that Aliev is grooming his son Ilham, who is vice president of the state oil company SOCAR, to be Azerbaijan's next president.

In the country's first local elections held on December 12, approximately 36,000 candidates, half of them nominally independent, competed for 22,000 seats on municipal councils. Prior to the vote, opposition parties strongly criticized the law on municipal elections adopted in July in preparation for the December vote as undemocratic. Subsequently, opposition members said that they had been prevented from becoming members of various local electoral commissions, and that many of their candidates had been refused registration. During the poll, election observers noted widespread irregularities, including unauthorized persons in polling stations and the stuffing of ballot boxes.

Caspian Sea energy issues continued to dominate much of Azerbaijan's domestic and foreign policies throughout the year. The first pipeline to carry Caspian oil directly to world markets without passing through Russian territory opened in April. The line, which runs from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku to the town of Supsa in Georgia, will earn Azerbaijan an estimated $10 million a year in transit fees. In July, the discovery of a large natural gas deposit at the Shakh Deniz offshore field, a cite widely regarded as a promising source for oil, transformed Azerbaijan into a potential major gas exporter. However, Azerbaijan's gas exports will compete with those of neighboring Turkmenistan, which has vast gas reserves and has already reached an agreement to supply Turkey with 16 billion cubic meters a year. On November 18, a long-awaited agreement was signed in Istanbul to construct an oil pipeline stretching from Baku through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. However, the U.S.-backed project, which is projected to begin operation in 2004 or 2005, will still need an assured supply of oil and financial backing in order to be commercially viable. The pipeline, which would bypass Russia, is widely seen as reducing Russian influence in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The most recent international mediation efforts over control of the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which call for Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan to form a common state, remained inconclusive at year's end. While Armenia had largely accepted the plan, Azerbaijan was pushing for clearer guarantees of sovereignty over the territory. On October 24, Azerbaijan's foreign minister and a senior presidential advisor reportedly resigned their positions in protest over concessions that Azerbaijan appeared prepared to make in the negotiations. The assassination of Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, who recently had become a supporter of a negotiated solution, and other top officials on October 27 further delayed progress in the peace talks.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens of Azerbaijan cannot change their government democratically. President Aliev, who in 1999 celebrated 30 years of almost uninterrupted rule since becoming Azerbaijan's Communist Party leader in 1969, has imposed an authoritarian regime while building a cult of personality. The 1995 constitution gives the president control over the government, legislature, and judiciary. Presidential elections in October 1998 were considered neither free nor fair by international observers. The 124-member parliament (Mili Majlis), which is composed mostly of members of Aliev's Yeni Azerbaijan party, exercises little legislative initiative independent of the president. Although more than 30 political parties are registered, opposition members face frequent harassment and arrest by the authorities.

While the constitution guarantees freedom of speech and the press, these rights are not respected in practice. Despite the official abolition of censorship in August 1998, the government routinely prosecutes journalists for articles critical of the president or other prominent state officials, and self-censorship is common. Many newspapers struggle financially in the face of heavy fines or imprisonment of their editors and staff, and are dependent on government-controlled publishing and distribution facilities. State-run television and radio, which are the primary sources of information for much of the country, are tightly controlled by the government. In late 1998, former President Abulfaz Elchibey was charged with slander after he accused President Aliev of having helped to found the Kurdish separatist party PKK in Turkey in the late 1970s. In February 1999, the case against him was dropped. A journalist with the Chag daily was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April for an alleged "call to social disorder" in an article that was never published. A new wave of harassment against the press resulted from Aliev's displeasure over discussions of his health following heart bypass surgery in April and conjectures concerning his possible successor. In early October, independent station Sara TV and Radio was shut down by the authorities the day after it broadcast an interview with an opposition leader of the Independent Azerbaijan Party. On December 9, 1999, parliament adopted a new media law severely restricting freedom of the press. Among the law's provisions, an agency of the executive branch will distribute broadcast licenses and shut down broadcasters charged with violating broadcast regulations, while broadcasters will not have the right to appeal through the court system. In addition, officials can file suits against journalists whose work they find "insults the honor and dignity of the state and the Azerbaijani people," or is "contrary to the national interest."

Shiite Muslims, who constitute most of the country's population, as well as Sunni Muslims, Russian Orthodox Christians, and Jews, can worship freely. However, the government restricts some religious activities of foreigners and Azerbaijani members of nontraditional religious groups through burdensome registration requirements, limitations on freedom to proselytize, and interference in the dissemination of printed materials. The small ethnic Armenian community has complained of professional and educational discrimination.

The government frequently restricts freedom of assembly and association, particularly for political parties critical of the government. Most trade unions belong to the state-run Azerbaijani Labor Federation. There is no effective collective bargaining system, and unions do not participate in determining wage levels.

The judiciary, which does not function independently of the executive branch, is inefficient and corrupt. The president appoints supreme and constitutional court judges, subject to parliamentary approval, as well as lower-level judges. Detainees are often held for long periods of time before trials, and their access to evidence and lawyers is restricted. Corruption is rampant, with bribes frequently demanded for a suspect's release.

Police abuse of suspects during arrest and interrogation is reportedly widespread. According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, no judge ruled as inadmissible testimony obtained through torture in 20 cases investigated by the human rights organization. In a January, revolt at the Gobestan prison, a group of prisoners seized hostages and demanded transportation to escape. Eleven prisoners were reportedly shot when Interior Ministry troops stormed the facility. In a positive development, a Soviet-era law allowing courts to confiscate the property of individuals convicted of many crimes was declared unconstitutional in June.

The constitution enshrines the right to own property and engage in entrepreneurial activities. Privatization has led to a rise in small businesses, mostly in the retail and service sectors. However, significant parts of the economy remain in the hands of a corrupt nomenklatura, severely limiting equality of opportunity. Traditional norms perpetuate discrimination and violence against women, although a number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been formed to address women's rights issues. In June, Azerbaijan's courts ruled that Islamic women may wear headscarves when being photographed for passports and other official documents.