Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Germany Should Bring Azerbaijan Down to Earth

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Germany Should Bring Azerbaijan Down to Earth

    Germany Should Bring Azerbaijan Down to Earth

    AUGUST 30, 2014
    Author(s):
    Hugh Williamson
    Published in:
    Die Zeit (in German)

    RELATED MATERIALS:

    Azerbaijan: Investigate Brutal Attack on Journalist
    AUGUST 27, 2014
    Press release
    While the World is Distracted, Azerbaijan Cracks Down on Human Rights Activists
    AUGUST 29, 2014
    Commentary

    Germany has spoken out about Azerbaijan's human rights abuses in the
    past, such as ahead of Eurovision, and it should speak out again now.
    Ukraine, Iraq and other crises demand attention in Berlin, but Germany
    cannot risk ignoring events in Azerbaijan.

    The government of Azerbaijan appears intent on convincing the world
    that the oil-rich country is a prosperous and important player on the
    international stage.

    European television viewers may recall that Azerbaijan hosted the
    European Song Contest in May 2012. The glitzy show was marred by
    widely publicized forced evictions to make way for the contest venue,
    and other human rights abuses that preceded the event.

    Now Azerbaijan has reached another, more serious moment when its
    vision for the international prestige it craves is clashing with
    realities on the ground. In the last few weeks two contrasting
    developments have shocked even the most hardened Azerbaijan watchers,
    who are used to the parallel world the Baku government projects.

    On the one hand, the government intensified its already authoritarian
    crackdown on independent political and other public voices in
    Azerbaijan. In the last two years the authorities have imprisoned at
    least 40 political activists, human rights defenders, journalists and
    others on various trumped-up charges, including drug possession, tax
    evasion, and even treason.

    And in a dramatic escalation since late July, the government rounded
    up the country's most senior human rights and other public figures,
    imprisoning them on politically motivated charges. These include
    Leyla Yunus, the well-known director of the Institute for Peace and
    Democracy, and her husband, the historian Arif Yunus; Rasul Jafarov,
    chair of Azerbaijan's Human Rights Club; and Intigam Aliyev, the
    highly respected chair of the Legal Education Society. All were part
    of a group compiling a comprehensive list of victims of politically
    motivated arrests in Azerbaijan. Now they are on the list.

    In addition, the government's already tough restrictions on the
    activities of non-governmental organizations have been further
    tightened. Many groups have been effectively forced to shut down after
    their bank accounts were frozen or their sources of funding blocked.

    On the other hand, Azerbaijan is making the most of new opportunities
    to boost its international profile. In a perverse twist, Azerbaijan in
    May assumed a prestigious position in Europe's leading human rights
    body - the rotating chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the
    Council of Europe. On June 24 President Ilham Aliev used his speech
    before the council's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg to deny any
    human rights problems and to call his critics liars. "We have freedom
    of political activity (and) freedom of assembly and association... in
    Azerbaijan" he said.

    Moreover, Baku is preparing for the first European Olympic Games next
    June. Baku was the only bidder for the Games, which will provide new
    opportunities to showcase at least some sanitized aspects of life in
    Azerbaijan.

    Germany has spoken out about Azerbaijan's human rights abuses in the
    past, such as ahead of Eurovision, and it should speak out again now.
    Ukraine, Iraq and other crises demand attention in Berlin, but Germany
    cannot risk ignoring events in Azerbaijan.

    Azerbaijan's oil wealth and geo-political role in the sensitive
    Caspian Sea region make it a potentially important partner for Berlin.
    Azerbaijan is Germany's seventh-most-important oil supplier, while
    Germany is Azerbaijan's most important European source of imports.
    Berlin also supports peace initiatives on the conflict with Armenia
    over Nagorno-Karabakh, the autonomous enclave in Azerbaijan primarily
    populated by ethnic Armenians.

    Yet partnership cannot work unless brazen human rights violations are
    addressed. Germany could take three immediate steps to show Baku that
    there will be no business as usual in diplomatic relations until those
    imprisoned on bogus, politically motivated charges are released, and
    the clampdown on civil society is lifted.

    First, Berlin should raise its voice, bilaterally, through the EU, and
    in the Council of Europe over the crackdown in Azerbaijan. The EU in
    recent days expressed its "deep concern" about the "deterioration of.
    ..human rights" but Azerbaijan must grasp that consequences will
    follow unless it ends its rights abuses.

    Second, Berlin needs to identify those consequences and if necessary
    apply them. These could include, as a start, insisting that the
    European Commission freeze negotiations over a new EU "strategic
    modernization partnership" with Azerbaijan, and suspend co-operation
    with Baku in the Council of Europe.

    Third, Germany should target Azerbaijan's efforts to polish its
    international image. For example, Baku boasts about its membership of
    the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an
    international coalition promoting government openness in natural
    resource management, even though it violates the coalition's rules on
    ensuring the right for independent groups to operate and be heard.
    Germany, which supports EITI, should add its voice to calls to suspend
    Azerbaijan's EITI membership until its human rights record improves.

    Such steps would show Azerbaijan that it cannot be an important
    international player without respecting the fundamental human rights
    of its own citizens.

    Hugh Williamson is the Berlin-based director, Europe & Central Asia
    division, Human Rights Watch.


    http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/30/germany-should-bring-azerbaijan-down-earth

Working...
X