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  • BAKU: Rights activist questions Azeri ombudsman's activities

    Rights activist questions Azeri ombudsman's activities

    Ekho, Baku
    23 Sep 04

    Prominent Azerbaijani human rights activist Eldar Zeynalov has said
    there is "some imbalance" in the activities of ombudsman Elmira
    Suleymanova. The imbalance is "connected with protection of state
    interests as they are interpreted by the government", Zeynalov told
    Ekho newspaper. The following is the text of R. Orucev's report by
    Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 23 September headlined "A human rights
    activist accuses the ombudsman" and subheaded "Eldar Zeynalov comments
    on Elmira Suleymanova's appeal regarding the arrested KLO members";
    subheadings inserted editorially:

    Azerbaijan's ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova has recently sent a letter
    to the chairwoman of the Court of Appeal, Qulzar Rzayeva, asking her
    to release the convicted members of the Karabakh Liberation
    Organization (KLO).

    Her letter said that the protesters who took part in the 22 June
    action outside the Europe Hotel against visits to Baku by Armenian
    officers [for NATO exercises] were people who have lost their health
    while defending Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. They have endured
    the Xocali tragedy [during military operations between Armenia and
    Azerbaijan in Nagornyy Karabakh] which was accompanied by mass
    violations of rights of civilians, and have witnessed the cruelty of
    the Armenian aggressors against the civilian population, abuse of
    their relatives and compatriots who have turned into refugees,
    displaced persons and hostages.

    "As a result, they could not control their feelings and under the
    power of emotions breached the law. Despite instances of hooliganism
    and disruption of public order during the protest, the objective of
    the participants was to protest at the visit of Armenian officers to
    Azerbaijan," the letter said.

    The ombudsman also noted that at present the destiny of the KLO
    members who were sentenced to imprisonment is in the focus of
    attention of the public which awaits their release. Heeding the public
    opinion, appeals by representatives of various parts of the
    population, as well as by parents and family members of the convicted,
    Suleymanova asked Rzayeva to assess the punishment for the KLO members
    in accordance with the offences that they have committed.

    First-ever protection of convicted

    Prior to this, ombudsman Suleymanova had never allowed herself to
    speak out for any citizen who had already been convicted. That is, as
    soon as the ombudsman was asked to protect somebody who had already
    been convicted, she would say that the judiciary in Azerbaijan was
    independent and that she could not put pressure on the court. What
    happened this time when Suleymanova all of a sudden directly addressed
    the head of the Court of Appeal?

    In the course of two days we could not get in touch with Suleymanova
    to clarify this issue, even though the head of the ombudsman's press
    service, Zemfira Maharramli, repeatedly recommended Ekho newspaper to
    do so. Finally, Maharramli explained her own stance on her boss's
    move. In her words, the actions of Suleymanova are justified because
    "the conviction of the KLO members reverberated widely among the
    public and politicians. Many NGOs, MPs, and even President [Ilham
    Aliyev] himself said that the verdict was too harsh. Hence, the
    ombudsman thought it possible to address the head of the Court of
    Appeal."

    Ombudsman refuses to intervene

    "In this case journalists are fully entitled to verify to what extent
    the actions of Suleymanova correspond to the articles of the law 'On
    ombudsman'," said the prominent Azerbaijani legal expert and director
    of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan, Eldar Zeynalov. "There are
    other trials under way in Azerbaijan. For instance, the case of Elcin
    Amiraslanov and members of the OMON [Special Purpose Police
    Detachment] has recently passed through the Court of Appeal. Before
    that, the court looked into the case of [ex-Defence Minister] Rahim
    Qaziyev. The trial of participants in the 2003 October events
    [post-election riots in Baku] is under way. And everybody understands
    that the ombudsman does not have the right to intervene in the work of
    the judges, nor do the ministers, the president or actually anybody
    else."

    Zeynalov recalled that the previous responses from Suleymanova were in
    the same vein whenever a complaint contained the word "trial": "Even
    if it was not about the trial itself, but about delays in the
    proceedings and about foot-dragging. Incidentally, it is the ombudsman
    who has the right to intervene in situations when the state bodies are
    accused of dragging their feet. But even in those cases Suleymanova
    used to always repeat that the judges were independent and she would
    not intervene."

    "Imbalance" in ombudsman's activities

    Zeynalov reckons that in general, "there is some imbalance in the
    activities of the Azerbaijani ombudsman which is connected with
    protection of state interests as they are interpreted by the
    government".

    For instance, in the wake of events in Nardaran [in June 2002], when
    the village was blockaded and the elders of Nardaran were arrested and
    tortured, the villagers officially appealed to Suleymanova and asked
    her to influence the situation. But the ombudsman said then that she
    did not have the right to intervene and refrained from any
    comments. Then there were the October events and Suleymanova allowed
    herself to make a political statement condemning the opposition's
    activities. Meanwhile, she did not say a word about the unlawful
    actions of the policemen who dispersed the action, Zeynalov said.
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