Azerbaijan Human Rights

Updated January 8, 2010

Summary

Eight-million-strong ex-Soviet Azerbaijan is an oil-rich country with a troubling record of human rights abuses. Inconsistent with its self-image of a “tolerant country,” Azerbaijani authorities persecute journalists (and now bloggers), shut down international and independent media outlets and violate other rights.

Persecution against Journalists

A number of journalists in Azerbaijan are either in prison (like Eynulla Fatullayev, Ganimat Zahid and Mushfig Huseynov), have suspended sentences or have faced physical attacks. The most famous of the arrested journalists, Fatullayev, is serving an over 10-year conviction. Initially arrested for challenging Azerbaijan’s official account of the 1992 Khojalu massacre of Azeri civilians by Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Fatullayev was later convicted of “terrorism” for an article he wrote while serving time in prison. Police reportedly used excessive force to prevent journalists from reporting or filming politically sensitive events such as opposition party rallies in 2008. A less exposed harassment of journalists (and citizens in general) continues in Naxçivan, (also known as Nakhichevan), an exclave of Azerbaijan sandwiched between Armenia and Iran. While Azerbaijan’s persecution of journalists is alarming, the government did pardon satirist Mirza Sakit Zahidov in April 2009.

See Amnesty International’s "Azerbaijan: Independent Journalists under Siege" report, June 2009.

Bloggers on trial

Despite Mirza Sakit’s encouraging amnesty, Azerbaijan continues to abuse individuals who criticize the government. Activists and bloggers Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade were arrested on charges of “hooliganism” on July 8, 2009, after reporting to the police that they had been assaulted in a restaurant in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. Their arrest came just over a week after Adnan Hajizade posted a video critical of the Azerbaijani government on YouTube. On November 11, Adnan Hajizade was sentenced to two years, and Emin Abdullayev to two and a half years, after being convicted in an unfair trial. Both were adopted by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience the following day. Action on the issue can be taken here.

Media Restrictions

In addition to persecuting and harassing individuals, Azerbaijan’s authorities have shut down several media outlets, including BBC and Radio Free Europe broadcasts. The move came in conjunction with a constitutional referendum that instituted unlimited presidency in March 2009.

Human Trafficking

Like neighboring Armenia, Azerbaijan is a source and a transit country for human trafficking. Many women and girls are trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for sexual exploitation.

Minority Rights

While Azerbaijan’s official media advertise the country as a haven for minorities, both ethnic and religious communities face discrimination. Two prominent members of the ethnic Talysh minority, Dr. Novruzali Mammadov (editor-in-chief of Tolishi sado, meaning Talishi voice) and his colleague Elman Guliyev, were sentenced to 10-year and 6-year imprisonment, respectively, for allegedly spying for neighboring Iran. Mammadov, who according to an Amnesty International official was tried only because of “promotion of the Talysh culture and language in Azerbaijan,” died in a prison hospital of a heart attack on August 17, 2009. Other persecuted minority leaders in Azerbaijan include Baptist pastors Hamid Shabanov and Zaur Balaev.

Less publicized is the violation of ethnic Armenians’ cultural rights manifested in the destruction of their material heritage in Azerbaijan, a delicate issue for rights organizations due to the unsolved conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan. (Amnesty International does not take a position on the territorial dispute.) Such sensitivity has silenced most international organizations from condemning Azerbaijan’s December 2005 destruction of ancient Armenian tombstones, intricately-carved Christian monuments known as khatchkars, in exclave Naxçivan’s remote Culfa (Djulfa) region.

Other

Amnesty International is concerned with the case of three ethnic minority teenagers – Ruslan Bessonov, Maksim Genashilkin, and Dmitri Pavlov – who have faced torture and other ill-treatment while in detention. All three were convicted in an unfair trial of killing another teenager.

Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh continue to face obstacles preventing them from enjoying their economic and social rights. See Amnesty International’s June 2007 report.

Fair Hearing for Emin and Adnan!
Azerbaijani bloggers Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade were arrested on charges of “hooliganism” in July after reporting to police that they had been assaulted. Their arrest came over a week after Adnan posted a YouTube video critical of the Azerbaijani government. A court sentenced Adnan to two years, and Emin to two and a half years. Call on Azerbaijan’s government to ensure that the bloggers receive a fair appeal hearing scheduled for December 22, 2009. » More actions

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