DIPLOMACY: PROBLEMATIC TIES
Jpost.com (The Jerusalem Post online edition)
December 21, 2014 Sunday
The case of journalist Khadija Ismayilova illustrates the dire state
of human rights in Azerbaijan, but with strong relations with Iran’s
next-door neighbor, Israel is unlikely to raise its voice.
Khadija Ismayilova knew it was coming; in fact she was expecting
the worst, perhaps even to be assassinated – a fate that has befallen
several investigative journalists in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Two weeks
ago, she was arrested in her hometown, Baku, by Azeri police and is
now in two-month pretrial detention. Under the draconian Azeri justice
system, if she is found guilty she faces a very long prison term.
Ismayilova is charged with causing a colleague to attempt suicide. The
accusations have been widely condemned as a flagrant effort to silence
her critical voice.
Her case is at the center of world attention focusing also on
the tyrannical government of President Ilham Aliyev, its abuses of
human rights and his corrupt family. Media organizations, individual
journalists, human rights groups and governments of many countries
are appealing to the Azeri government to drop the ridiculous charges
and release her.
The Tel Aviv Journalists Association joined the protest and its
chairman Rotem Avrutsky called upon the Baku authorities to release
the brave reporter.
Ismayilova, who reports for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty’s
Azerbaijani service, (or Radio Azadliq, as it is known locally)
has reported extensively on official corruption and the financial
activities of family members of President Aliyev.
In the past she has been the target of vindictive actions by the
government in connection with her reporting. She has suffered repeated
attacks in official media, on-line smear tactics, and threats of
physical harm. In March 2012, intimate footage obtained through
surveillance equipment planted in her apartment by the local security
services appeared on pro-government websites and was propagated in
official media. The message accompanying the photos warned her to
“behave or be shamed.”
In April that same year she was also the subject of an obscene video
fabricated to portray her and posted online. Later she was accused of
spying for the United States after meeting with US Senate staffers
in Baku and was subsequently subject to a travel ban that prevented
her from leaving Azerbaijan on opaque legal grounds. At the time,
Ismayilova called the smear campaign against her “moral terror.”
Her arrest is a grim confirmation of what rights groups call a ruthless
campaign of repression against Azerbaijan’s most independent and
influential journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society
activists. A growing number of them have been jailed for expressing
their views and protesting against what they say is a corrupt and
repressive government.
Drew Sullivan is Ismayilova’s editor at the Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a cross-border, international
team of investigative journalists, and is coordinating the efforts
to obtain her release under the “Free Khadija” campaign.
He told me by email that “Azerbaijan has systematically repressed the
media and all opposition in the country. It is a model increasingly
used throughout the region led by Russia. The government has called
her a traitor, an Armenian, which they use as a slur, and a whore. It
would be funny if this wasn’t the 21st century and a government that
actually rules people.”
Despite her harsh treatment and bleak future, Ms. Ismayilova seems
to be strong.
In a letter she managed to send from her cell to her friends and
supporters she wrote: “Arrests and restrictions are part of our
mission in telling the truth. My arrest proves one more time that it
is important to make change happen. We need to build a new reality
where truth will be a norm of life and telling the truth will not
require courage.”
Meanwhile, President Aliyev’s spokesman in Baku, Azer Gasimov, blamed
the outcry on an “anti-Azerbaijani campaign” by the US Department
of State and “forces jealous of our country.” Quoted in local media,
he said: “If you pay attention you can see that the State Department,
which instantly comments on any small incident in Azerbaijan, gives
no reaction to open and flagrant violation of human rights in several
[other] countries.”
Azerbaijan, situated on the banks of the Caspian Sea, is a former
Soviet Republic and a rich oil and gas producer. Since it declared
independence in 1991 after the breakdown of the Soviet Union,
Azerbaijan has been ruled by the Aliyev family. First the father and
now his son. It is a moderate Muslim nation which has been trying to
reach out to the West and turn its back on Russia.
Two additional major facts contribute to its security and foreign
affairs orientation.
One was the war with neighboring Christian Armenia, which was
supported by Russia and Iran. The war resulted in Azerbaijan losing
the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The second factor is its troubling relations with another neighbor
– Iran, One-third of Iranians are of Azeri origins, including the
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
It is against this background that Azerbaijan has emerged in the last
decade as an important strategic ally for Israel.
According to foreign reports, Azerbaijan has become a major market for
Israeli military and security goods, which include drones and optical,
electronic and intelligence equipment worth an estimated $1.5 billion
in recent years. Azerbaijan is also Israel’s major supplier of oil.
Cabinet ministers, senior government officials as well as intelligence
and military personnel of both countries frequently visit each other,
exchanging views information and gifts.
It has also been reported in foreign media that because of its
proximity, Azerbaijan serves as a launch pad for Israeli intelligence
gathering operations against Iran.
Yet recent events may indicate that the Aliyev government is having
second thoughts about its foreign policy and may regret its pro-Western
orientation.
Regardless, it is unlikely that the government of Israel, which has
never been among those taking the lead to express concern about abuses
of human rights, will comment about the case of Khadija Ismayilova.