AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT EXPRESSES DESIRE FOR "CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE" WITH NGOS

4/27/06

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in Washington on a three-day visit, expressed a desire to forge a better working relationship with non-governmental organizations to encourage civil society development in Azerbaijan.

In an April 26 meeting with representatives from prominent NGOs, Aliyev declared that a "major objective" of his administration was to improve governmental-NGO cooperation "to create a better life for the people of Azerbaijan." Seemingly at ease speaking in English, Aliyev acknowledged that his administration had faced considerable criticism over its human rights practices and electoral conduct from many of the NGOs represented at the meeting. He went on to defend the Azerbaijani government’s rights record, claiming the country had made "good progress" in developing civil society in recent years. "I hope this meeting will create a better climate for dialogue," he said.

According to the US State Department’s most recent Country Report on Human Rights Practices, published in March, Azerbaijan’s record "remained poor, and it continued to commit abuses." The report examined a wide array of issues, including electoral manipulation, political repression, restrictions on freedom of speech and efforts to hinder the functioning of local NGOs.

Corruption in the country is pervasive. The watchdog group Transparency International in its 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index indicated that Azerbaijan was among the most crooked countries in the world -- tied for 137th out of the 159 nations surveyed. The State Department report said "records do not exist to validate the implementation" of anti-graft legislation in Azerbaijan.

Law enforcement is another problem area, with the State Department noting that "although the law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, the government generally did not observe these prohibitions in practice, and impunity remained a problem." According to local NGO estimates, the government is holding up to 45 political prisoners, including three detained in the aftermath of the 2003 presidential election, which international election monitors said was marred by widespread fraud.

During the April 26 meeting, a representative of Human Rights Watch challenged Aliyev’s claims concerning the improving rights climate in Azerbaijan, asserting the country’s parliamentary vote in late 2005 showed no improved commitment on the part of the government to free-and-fair elections. Aliyev disputed HRW’s assessment of the vote, saying the electoral process was "not as bad as you have portrayed." In recognition of electoral irregularities, Azerbaijani authorities ended up disallowing the results in several constituencies, but opposition politicians and local NGO activists said that the government’s action was insufficient to redress their complaints. Aliyev predicted during the Washington meeting that there would be a marked improvement in the conduct of repeat elections in May.

Aliyev also denied that Azerbaijan held any political prisoners, and bristled over allegations concerning the use of torture against suspects in custody. "Things happen everywhere. Does Abu Ghraib mean that the US government is not democratic?" Aliyev said, referring to the infamous prison scandal in Iraq.

In response to a question from a representative of the Open Society Institute (OSI) concerning transparency in the country’s oil and gas sector, Aliyev maintained there existed "100 percent" openness concerning the money in the country’s Oil Fund. He added, however, that the national oil company, SOCAR, could benefit from accounting reforms. SOCAR’s current spending practices were difficult to track at present, Aliyev indicated. [EurasiaNet operates under the auspices of the Open Society Institute].

While OSI representatives at the meeting praised Azerbaijan as a leader in the region on issues of resource transparency, they also supported the concerns of the human rights community. "A successful civil society is made up of many actors. The job of human rights watchdog organizations is not to praise governments, but to criticize them and push them to do better. While OSI works cooperatively with many government ministries in Azerbaijan, we also consider the work of the watchdog organizations to be vital to a thriving civil society," said Robert Kushen, OSI’s Director of International Operations.

In addition to HRW and the OSI, participants in the April 26 meeting included representatives of IFES, IREX, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy.

This article was originally published by the EurasiaNet, www.eurasianet.org.