Germany Should Bring Azerbaijan Down to Earth
AUGUST 30, 2014
Author(s):
Hugh Williamson
Published in:
Die Zeit (in German)
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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