The Azerbaijani authorities must not use the upcoming presidential election as a pretext to silence critical voices and meaningful debate, Amnesty International said following a move to extend criminal defamation laws to the internet.

On 14 May, the Azerbaijani Parliament approved an amendment to the country’s defamation law to impose hefty fines and prison sentences for anyone convicted of online slander or insults.  The new legislation constitutes a further attack of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.

According to the state news agency APA, those found guilty of slander face a fine of up to 500 Azeri manat (US$637), corrective labour of up to one year or jail time of up to six months. The punishment for an online “insult” is even harsher – fines of up to 1,000 Azeri manat, one year of corrective labour or imprisonment of up to six months.

This is just the latest in ever-more restrictive measures – including actions to muzzle mainstream media outlets and the introduction of harsher punishment for peaceful protesters  – ahead of October’s election.

“The Azerbaijani authorities’ fear of critical voices has already led them to attempt to keep peaceful protesters off the streets and to muzzle the mainstream media. This new law aims to shut down one of the few last resorts of legitimate protest – the internet,” said David Diaz-Jogeix, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme.

“It’s clear from the timing of these ever-more restrictive measures that the authorities want to prevent any critical voices or meaningful political debate from taking place ahead of October’s election.”

“The high fines proposed under this law will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, leading to self-censorship among independent voices and activists.”

The government of Ilham Aliyev – who has been in power for the past decade, following a decade of his father being in power – has been keeping a tight grasp on the public opinion by restricting severely freedom of expression in Azerbaijan ahead of October’s presidential election.

In addition to the legislative measures introduced in recent months, opposition candidates have been violently attacked , activists have frequently been detained during anti-government protests, and independent journalists have been attacked or prevented from carrying out their work.

Even before the recent defamation laws, criticism of the President’s family has often provoked a swift and harsh response from the authorities. In March 2012 two musicians were arrested and tortured after they insulted the President’s late mother during a public performance.

With Syria mired in open revolt, several other Middle Eastern and North African countries still reeling from the Arab Spring, and Iran at loggerheads with the United States over its nuclear program, it was astounding to hear Israel’s president refer to a Muslim country this week not as a problem but as part of the solution.

Yet there was Shimon Perez in Jerusalem on Monday praising Azerbaijan for taking “a clear stand” against war and terrorism and for making the world a bit more safe and predictable.
The occasion was a visit to Israel by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, accompanied by a large delegation of Azerbaijani Jews, including a Jewish member of the parliament. While Mr. Mammadyarov’s trip this week was historic — it marked the first visit to Israel by an Azerbaijani foreign minister — the rhetoric was not. Azerbaijan’s long-standing friendship with Israel — and its support for the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — have been policy for years. Israel has even asked Azerbaijan to help broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Unbeknownst to many, Azerbaijan, a secular country with a predominantly Muslim population that sits on the United Nations Security Council, has had a close relationship with Israel since the beginning of its independence from the Soviet Union a generation ago. Indeed, it might surprise many to know that Azerbaijan, with a Shiite-majority population and a shared border with Iran, supplies some 40 percent of Israel’s oil. A subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic is aiding Israel’s quest for energy security by drilling off the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean. The countries also have a close partnership in the defense sector.

During a period when old grudges and prejudices color nearly every global event, Mr. Mammadyarov’s visit to Israel is a hopeful sign. It’s refreshing when two countries with diverse cultural backgrounds make common cause and become friends, rather than hew to tired stereotypes that seem to define every facet of the modern world order.

The strategic relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel is held together by a human story. Azerbaijan is home to a thriving Jewish community of about 30,000, which has lived there in peace for at least 2,000 years. When, over the centuries, Jews in the surrounding regions found themselves persecuted, they found Azerbaijan a haven. During World War II, many European Jews escaping Nazi persecutions found shelter in Azerbaijan.

Over the years since independence, Azerbaijan also has proved to be a staunch and reliable ally of the United States and Europe. The Caspian region is increasingly important to the West as the strategic juncture between the Middle East and Central Asia, and Baku has become a strong regional partner at this critical intersection.

My country has long been dedicated to promoting stability and security in its neighborhood. Azerbaijan has played a vital role in supporting the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan and has been providing valuable overflight, refueling and landing rights to 40 percent of the material that coalition forces use. Azerbaijan has suffered repeatedly from terrorism. Therefore, we clearly understand the need to counter extremism in whatever form it may exist.

It is not easy to pursue an independent path, especially for a young country in a complex and challenging region. Attempts to divert us from this path abound, but they all have failed. Azerbaijan’s resolve to preserve and strengthen its hard-won freedom and independence has never been stronger.

For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Emily Hardman, ehardman@becketfund.org, 202.349.7224

WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, 8 February 2013, the European Court of Human Rights announced its rejection of the Juma Mosque Congregation’s appeal against the government of Azerbaijan. The ruling came more than eight years after the mosque first sought relief from the Court when the mosque’s building was seized by government security forces and the mosque’s members expelled in 2004.

The mosque was targeted by the authorities because it would not agree to replace its existing religious leader, Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiyev–a prominent democracy and religious liberty activist–with a government-appointed imam. Without a government-appointed and -controlled imam, the authorities refused to register the mosque, which meant the mosque could not own or rent property. The mosque had sought relief in the Azerbaijan courts and had then appealed the case to the ECHR with the help of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The mosque sought the ability to register itself as a legal entity without submitting to the appointment of a government imam and to remain in the mosque building it had used for worship for the more than 12 years since Azerbaijan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

In its decision, the ECHR did not reach the merits of the mosque’s religious freedom claims, basing its ruling instead on technical legal defenses raised by the government. With respect to the mosque’s claim for registration, the Court held that the mosque should have brought suit against a different government agency in addition to the ones it had sued. And with respect to the mosque’s building, the Court held that the original permission from the government to use the mosque could be revoked unilaterally without regard to whether the revocation was meant to suppress the mosque. The ECHR’s decision means that the mosque cannot legally operate in Azerbaijan or use its building, which is located in the historic center of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku and is one of the oldest houses of worship in Azerbaijan.

“Justice for the Juma Mosque Congregation has been both delayed and denied,” said Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel of the Becket Fund and the lawyer that filed the Mosque’s appeal in April 2004. “It is bad enough that the Court rested its decision on dubious factual defenses by the government, but to take eight years to reach this decision is doubly damaging because it left the mosque’s rights in limbo for so long.” “What’s worse is that this decision will only embolden autocratic governments to engage in registration abuse against minority or dissident religious groups, especially in the former Soviet space,” Rassbach added.

Registration abuse occurs when a government uses its discretionary power to deny legal identity to a religious organization on arbitrary grounds. It is a widespread phenomenon in countries in transition to democracy and especially the former Soviet states; registration as a legal entity is typically denied to minority, non-traditional, or dissident religious groups.

The background of the case is rooted in the struggle for democracy in Azerbaijan. Allahverdiyev was targeted by government security forces after a 2003 post-election crackdown on dissenting voices in Azerbaijan. After first taking refuge in the Norwegian Embassy, Allahverdiyev was later arrested and given what the ECHR, in a separate appeal, found to be an unfair trial.

The Becket Fund was co-counsel on the case with leading European human rights advocate Prof. Bill Bowring of the University of London, Birkbeck College School of Law.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty  is a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions—from Anglicans to Zoroastrians. For 18 years its attorneys have been recognized as experts in the field of church-state law. The Becket Fund recently won a 9-0 victory in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, which The Wall Street Journal called one of “the most important religious liberty cases in a half century.”

For more information, or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys, please contact Emily Hardman, Communications Director, at ehardman@becketfund.org or call 202.349.7224.

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Additional Information:

• Juma Mosque Case Page
• European Court of Human Rights Decision (February 8, 2013)
• Asadbeyli v. Azerbaijan Judgment (December 11, 2012)

A thorough, independent investigation is needed into what appears to have been an orchestrated attack on Azerbaijani opposition presidential candidate Isa Gambar on the campaign trail, Amnesty International said.

According to Gambar’s Musavat Party, he was on his way to campaign in the southern coastal city of Lenkoran on Sunday when 10 vehicles attempted to block his convoy at the city’s entrance.

A Musavat spokesperson told Amnesty International that a crowd of more than 100 people then pelted the candidate’s convoy with rocks and eggs taken from nearby trucks, smashing the car windows. Nine people in Gambar’s entourage were injured including several who were punched and kicked and Musavat Party deputy leader Gulagha Aslanli, who had his foot run over by a car.

Read more.

By Daniil Meshcheryakov, Executive Director of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Politically active groups continued to advocate for a nationalist agenda within the broader protest movement. In recent discussions organized by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation called “The Nationalist threat in Russia: Trends, Prospects and Countermeasures” the results of 2011 were discussed, including the rise of xenophobia and a decrease in the number of hate crimes due to better law enforcement.

January marked the beginning of the electoral campaign in Russia, and the most important political event was the publication of an article by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called “Russia: the National Question” in the state newspaper. The caused a strong reaction from the public. The fact that the Prime Minister published an article on this subject shows its importance. Some of the articles provisions may be included in his presidential platform. However, experts doubt their feasibility. There are human rights concerns as well. It includes a proposal to tighten the registration standards for migrants in order to counter the flow of “illegal migrants” and social conflict. Also, despite the recognition of the importance of education in developing adequate attitudes to cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, Putin chose to focus on efforts such as introducing compulsory examination of migrants in the Russian language, Russian history, and Russian culture.

The wave of social activism caused by the falsification of election results in December 2011 has resulted in a number of internal discussions within the civic movement on whether or not to cooperate with the nationalists. They have decided not to. The anti-fascist activists were united in honoring the memory of murdered human rights journalists Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova in 22 Russian cities. This caused a violent reaction from the neo-Nazis who attacked participants in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh.

On January 21, a rally of several hundred Moscow football fans was organized to demand the investigation of the attack on the fan of the Spartak football team member Alexey Ershov, who was wounded by Andronick Simonyan, an ethnic Armenian, in September, 2010. The protesters made sure that the case had been sent to court, echoing a similar incident last year. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Putin met with football fans regarding the upcoming World Cup to be held in Russia in 2018 and promised to pay proper attention to the “national question” in Russia.

According to the Sova Center, in January 2012, at least 11 people suffered from racist or neo-Nazi attacks. One native of Azerbaijan was killed and 10 people were assaulted. The federal list of extremist materials, was updated in January four times and seven new items were added to it, including several related to Islamic fundamentalism and a brochure titled “Expansion from the South. Stop it?!”.