7 Jun 2017 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Letters, Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Georgia, Statements
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Afgan Mukhtarli. Credit: Meydan TV
Index on Censorship and 22 other NGOs have written to Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili calling on his government to respect its international obligations and, in particular, to conduct a full investigation into Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli’s abduction in Tbilisi on 29 May.
Att.: Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Krvirikashvili
Parliament of Georgia
26, Abashidze Street
Kutaisi, Georgia, 4600
6 June 2017
Dear Mr. Krvirikashvili,
We write to express our deepest concern about the abduction of Afgan Mukhtarli, an exiled Azerbaijani journalist, on 29 May in Tbilisi. He went missing after leaving his colleagues in the evening, before resurfacing the following day in Baku in the custody of Azerbaijan’s state border agency.
Mukhtarli reports that he was forced into a car near his home, tied up and beaten. His abductors put a bag over his head and 10,000 euros were stuffed into his pockets while crossing the Azerbaijani border. His lawyer Elchin Sadygov, who managed to visit him in detention, confirmed that he bore the marks of blows to his face and that he may have had one of his ribs broken. On 31 May, a court in Baku sentenced him to a three months’ pre-trial detention while he is now being charged with smuggling, illegal border crossing and violence against police authority.
This disturbing development does not only expose Afgan Mukhtarli to the possibility of torture and a long prison sentence, but also sets a worrying precedent, threatening the security of dozens of other Azerbaijanis living in exile in Georgia. Numerous independent journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society activists fled Azerbaijan in recent years to escape repression, but they are increasingly becoming targets of harassment and persecutions abroad. They were hoping to find a safe haven in Georgia, but must now live with the constant fear of being illegally brought back to their country of origin.
Afgan Mukhtarli’s abduction and illegal deportation to his country while in process of applying for asylum in Georgia is a clear violation of international law. The prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment enshrined in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Georgia is a state party, clearly implies an obligation for each country not to expel, extradite or deport an individual to a state, where he or she faces a real risk of being subjected to this type of treatment. It is therefore Georgia’s responsibility to guarantee the safety of Azerbaijanis living in its territory and to prevent any forced return to their country.
Afgan Mukhtarli’s abduction is a black stain on Georgia’s reputation as a leader in upholding human rights standards in the Caucasus region. The Azerbaijani authorities are engaged in a relentless war against their remaining critics. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, stated in May 2017: “The situation in Azerbaijan continues to worry me. Since 2015, I have intervened before the European Court of Human Rights in seven cases, which are in my view emblematic of the human rights problems of the country: limitations to freedom of expression, shrinking space for NGOs, and official harassment of human rights defenders and their lawyers. While the applicants of the cases I intervened in are no longer in prison, we should not forget all the others who are still detained on charges which defy credibility, often after having expressed critical views against the authorities.” As the neighbour of such a repressive state, Georgia has a moral duty to maintain its historical role of welcoming Azerbaijani dissidents.
We welcome the opening of an investigation into Afgan Mukhtarli’s “illegal abduction”. We hope that it will fully shed light on the abductors’ identities and clarify the potential role of the Georgian authorities in what happened. A clear message needs to be sent regarding that illegal actions of a neighbouring state on Georgian territory will not be accepted, and that any public servant implicated in such grave violations of international law will be held accountable.
Georgia has co-sponsored all recent United Nations resolutions on human rights defenders. Most recently, Georgia was amongst the States expressing grave concern at the United Nations Human Rights Council – of which Georgia is a member – “that the practice of enforced disappearance is often used to repress and intimidate human rights defenders” (resolution 34/5 adopted on 23 March 2017 by the Human Rights Council, with Georgia voting in favour). The credibility of Georgia’s commitment to the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms is hence at stake.
We thank you in advance for the attention you give to our request.
Sincerely,
- Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
- CEE Bankwatch Network
- Civil Rights Defenders
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- Crude Accountability
- English PEN
- FIDH, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Freedom Now
- Human Rights First
- Human Rights House Foundation
- Human Rights Watch
- Index on Censorship
- IFEX
- International Media Support
- International Partnership for Human Rights
- Institute for War and Peace Reporting
- Netherlands Helsinki Committee
- Norwegian Helsinki Committee
- PEN America
- PEN International
- People in Need
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
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31 May 2017 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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Afgan Mukhtarli. Credit: Meydan TV
Index on Censorship is extremely concerned at the news of journalist Afgan Mukhtarli being detained and facing prosecution in Azerbaijan after being disappeared from Georgia.
Freelance Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was reported missing in Tbilisi, Georgia on the evening of 29 May by his wife Leyla Mustafayeva. Eurasianet reported that Mustafayeva said that her husband last called her when he was just a few blocks away from their home, but he never showed up.
The Georgian police stated on 30 May that a search was underway for the journalist, but later, the independent Azeri news agency Turan reported that the Azerbaijani border service department detained Mukhtarli.
Independent investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova confirmed that Mukhtarli was kidnapped from his neighbourhood where he was forced into a car, his hands were tied and he was beaten. Mukhtarli sustained serious injuries. His lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, told the Committee to Protect Journalists: “He was beaten, has a broken nose, bruises all over his head and right eye, his rib may be broken.”
He was then taken across the border into Azerbaijan by car without his passport.
Mukhtarli is being charged with trespassing, smuggling and resistance to law-enforcement (violations of Articles 318.1, 206.1 and 315.2 of the criminal code), his lawyer confirmed. The Azerbaijani police also claim Mukhtarli was in possession of 10,000 EUR during the police search.
“Georgia has long been perceived as a safe haven for Azerbaijani dissidents, but the disappearance of Afgan Mukhtarli and other incidents are deeply concerning,” Melody Patry, Index’s head of advocacy said. “The charges brought by Azerbaijan’s prosecutors against Mukhtarli are spurious and Index calls for his immediate and unconditional release. We further call on the Georgian authorities to swiftly investigate the kidnapping of the journalist.”
Mukhtarli, who has contributed to various independent outlets, including Meydan TV, fled to Georgia from Azerbaijan in 2015, after receiving threats over his investigative reporting on corruption in the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry.
Twelve days before, the journalist said in an interview with independent online news outlet Jam News, that he and his wife, who is also a journalist and an activist, were both under surveillance.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1496242648118-e98a8e80-c3a5-0″ taxonomies=”7145″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 May 2017 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, Statements
Ilgar Mammadov
Today three years have passed since the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment on the case of political prisoner Ilgar Mammadov, concluding that the Azerbaijani authorities had detained him to punish him for his criticism of the government. In spite of this ruling, and repeated calls for his release by Council of Europe bodies in follow-up to the ruling, the Azerbaijani authorities have persistently refused to execute the decision of the Court and free Ilgar Mammadov. In view of this, we, members of the Civic Solidarity Platform and the Sports for Rights Coalition, call on the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to refer the case back to the ECtHR on the grounds of non-execution of the judgment. This is crucial to ensure justice for this wrongly imprisoned government critic, who has already spent more than four years behind bars, as well as to safeguard the legitimacy of the Council of Europe as the guardian of human rights and the rule of law in the region.
Ilgar Mammadov, chair of the political opposition REAL party, was a well-known opponent of the regime when he was arbitrarily detained in February 2013. He attempted to stand in the 2013 presidential elections, gathering the required 40 000 signatures in support of his candidacy, which the Central Election Commission ruled as invalid.[i] He was also outspoken in his criticism of the policies of the authorities on his blog and in the media. Ilgar Mammadov was detained after monitoring and reporting on street protests in the town of Ismayilli in January 2013, which resulted in clashes with the police. He did not participate in these protests, but travelled to the region after they took place to observe developments and revealed the role of individuals with ties to the authorities in initiating the clashes. In spite of the lack of evidence llgar Mammadov was accused of instigating the Ismayilli clashes and on 17 March 2014, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on trumped-up charges of “organizing mass riots” and using “violence against police officers”. His sentence was upheld on appeal.
In a judgment issued on 22 May 2014, the ECtHR found that Ilgar Mammadov’s arrest and detention violated numerous provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, including Articles 5.1, 5.4 and 6.2 on the right to liberty and security, the right to judicial review of one’s detention and the principle of presumption of innocence, as well as article 18 that limits the applicability of restrictions on rights. The Court concluded that Ilgar Mammadov had been detained without any evidence to reasonably suspect him of having committed a crime and that the actual purpose of his detention was to silence and punish him for criticizing the government and publishing information it was trying to hide.[ii]
In its follow-up to the ECtHR’s ruling, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe — the body responsible for supervising the execution of ECtHR judgements — has repeatedly called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Ilgar Mammadov. The Committee has examined this case as a matter of priority in its review of the execution of ECtHR judgments by Council of Europe member states and adopted a number of decisions and interim resolutions on it.[iii]
Other Council of Europe bodies, including the organization’s Secretary General, its Human Rights Commissioner and the President of its Parliamentary Assembly have also repeatedly called for Ilgar Mammadov to be released. However, the Azerbaijani authorities have flagrantly ignored these calls and refused to implement the ECtHR’s judgment and release Mammadov.
In view of the continued failure of the Azerbaijani authorities to implement the ECtHR’s decision on Ilgar Mammadov’s case, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland launched an official inquiry into Azerbaijan’s implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in December 2015.[iv]Under Article 52 of the Convention, the Secretary General may initiate an inquiry into how the domestic law of member states ensures the effective implementation of the Convention. This was the first time that Secretary General Jagland had taken such a measure and his initiative was welcome and important.
However, in November 2016, Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court nevertheless rejected an appeal submitted by Ilgar Mammadov on the basis of the ECtHR ruling and upheld his seven-year prison sentence. Thus, Ilgar Mammadov remains behind bars for no other reason than speaking out critically about those in power. This continued defiance by the Azerbaijani authorities leads us to conclude that further action is urgently required.
Therefore, we call on the Committee of Ministers to refer the case back to the ECtHR under Article 46.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which obliges the parties to the Convention to abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case to which they are parties. The Convention authorizes the Committee to take action to this end. Article 46.4 states: “If the Committee of Ministers considers that a High Contracting Party refuses to abide by a final judgment in a case to which it is a party, it may, after serving formal notice on that Party and by decision adopted by a majority vote of two-thirds of the representatives entitled to sit on the committee, refer to the Court the question whether that Party has failed to fulfil its obligation under paragraph 1.”
Ilgar Mammadov v. Azerbaijan has become a test case of the legitimacy of the Council of Europe. When commenting on the Supreme Court’s failure to uphold Azerbaijan’s obligation to execute the ECtHR judgment last year, Secretary General Jagland stated: “Azerbaijan’s flagrant disrespect of the European Convention on Human Rights undermines the entire scope of our cooperation” [and] “affects the 46 Member States of the Council of Europe who have a collective responsibility for the implementation of the Convention”.[v]
By resorting to the ultimate mechanism for addressing non-compliance of judgments set out by the European Convention on Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers can take resolute action to safeguard the Council of Europe’s integrity and ensure that the Azerbaijani authorities finally abide by their obligations under the Convention, implement the ECtHR ruling and free Ilgar Mammadov.
Signed by the following members of the Civic Solidarity Platform and the Sport for Rights Coalition:
1. Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement (UMDPL, Ukraine)
2. Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House
3. Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan
4. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
5. Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine)
6. Center for Participation and Development (Georgia)
7. Center for Regional Strategic Studies (Azerbaijan)
8. Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia)
9. Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden)
10. Committee Against Torture (Russia)
11. Crude Accountability (USA)
12. Fair Trials (UK)
13. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH, France)
14. Freedom Files (Poland)
15. Freedom House (USA)
16. Freedom Now (USA)
17. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)
18. Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan
19. Human Rights Club (Azerbaijan)
20. Human Rights Monitoring Institute (Lithuania)
21. Humanrights.ch (Switzerland)
22. IDP Women Association “Consent” (Georgia)
23. Index on Censorship (UK)
24. Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (Azerbaijan)
25. Institute Respublica (Ukraine)
26. International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR, Belgium)
27. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
28. Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims
29. Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights (Germany)
30. Moscow Helsinki Group (Russia)
31. Netherlands Helsinki Committee
32. Norwegian Helsinki Committee
33. Notabene (Tajikistan)
34. PEN America (USA)
35. PEN International
36. Promo LEX Association (Moldova)
37. Public Alternative (Ukraine)
38. Public Association “Dignity” (Kazakhstan)
39. Public Verdict Foundation (Russia)
40. Swedish OSCE Network: signed in personal capacity by Olof Kleberg and Anki Wetterhall
41. Truth Hounds (Ukraine)
42. Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
43. Women of the Don (Russia)
44. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) (Switzerland)
[i] In several rulings against Azerbaijan, the ECtHR has found that the practices of the Central Election Commission with respect to the validation of signatures violate Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to free elections.
[ii] The judgment is available at: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-144124
[iii] The most recent decision on this case adopted by the Committee of Ministers is available at: https://rm.coe.int/16806c4554
[iv] See press release at: http://bit.ly/2q8CRNI
[v] His statement is available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/azerbaijan-statement-by-secretary-general-jagland-on-the-decision-of-the-supreme-court-today-rejecting-the-appeal-by-ilgar-mammadov
21 Apr 2017 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
We, representatives of international and national non-governmental organisations, issue this appeal prior to a discussion of the investigation into allegations of corruption at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in connection with its work on Azerbaijan, at the Assembly’s April 2017 session and a meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly before the session. We call upon you to support a full, thorough and independent investigation into the corruption allegations, with full civil society oversight.
We are extremely concerned about credible allegations presented in a December 2016 report by the European Stability Initiative (ESI), “The European Swamp: Prosecutions, corruption and the Council of Europe” building on previous findings by ESI and others published in 2012-16, detailing improper influencing of Assembly members by representatives of the Azerbaijani government. In particular, the reports include credible allegations that PACE members from various countries and political groups received payments and other gifts with a view to influencing the appointment of Assembly rapporteurs on Azerbaijan, as well as reports and resolutions of the Assembly on Azerbaijan, most notably the PACE vote on the draft resolution on political prisoners in Azerbaijan in January 2013.
The allegations regarding improper conduct of PACE members are serious, credible, and risk gravely undermining the credibility of the Assembly, as well as the Council of Europe as a whole. It is essential that these allegations are investigated thoroughly and impartially. Calls and recommendations for independent investigation into these allegations put forward by ESI have been echoed by many civil society actors, including Amnesty International, Transparency International, and a group of 60 members of Azerbaijani civil society actors and 20 international NGOs.
We welcome the decision of the PACE Bureau on 27 January 2017 to set up an independent investigation body to shed light on hidden practices that favour corruption. The Bureau has also committed to revising the Assembly’s Code of Conduct and invited GRECO (the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption) to provide advice to the Rules Committee, charged with the investigation.
On 3 March, Wojciech Sawicki, PACE Secretary General, presented the Assembly Bureau with a draft terms of reference for the external and independent investigation at the Bureau meeting in Madrid. The proposal is credible, defining a wide mandate and competences and including strong guarantees for the independence of the investigation and safeguards against non-compliance with its work.
Unfortunately, the proposal was met with resistance at the meeting, and no agreement was made on its substance. The proposal was further discussed at a meeting of the heads of the PACE Parliamentary groups on 28 March in St Petersburg: again, no consensus was reached on its content, and whether it should be adopted.
A thorough investigation is essential to restore PACE’s credibility and allow it to effectively address human rights violations across the Council of Europe, including in Azerbaijan. The chairman of Azerbaijani NGO the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety, Mehman Huseynov is already facing reprisals for raising the corruption allegations during the January PACE session. A day after his NGO sent a letter about the corruption allegations to PACE members in January, he was abducted and tortured by police and later sentenced for 2 years on defamation charges for allegedly making false allegations about torture. For PACE to be in a position to respond to such violations, it must be seen as independent and not under the influence of states wishing to influence their conduct.
We call upon members of the PACE Bureau to commit to the Sawicki proposal and to call for a full plenary debate on the proposal at the April session of PACE. We also call on the PACE Bureau to include a mechanism of civil society oversight of the investigation to ensure its full independence and impartiality.
We call upon all Members of the Assembly to support in the strongest possible terms an independent, external and thorough investigation. This can be done by signing a written Declaration on the Parliamentary Assembly Integrity introduced on 25 January 2017 by PACE members Pieter Omtzigt (The Netherlands, Christian Democrat), and Frank Schwabe (Germany, Social Democrat) urging the PACE President Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP) to launch a “deep, thorough investigation by an independent panel” that makes its findings public. More than one fifth of the Assembly members have joined the declaration. More voices in support of the Assembly integrity are needed. Moreover, PACE members must insist on their right to discuss the Sawicki proposal at the April session of the Assembly, to ensure that PACE has the mechanisms in place to adequately deal with corruption allegations.
We call on the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland to make a very strong statement to affirm that there will be no tolerance of any corruption, including bribery, trading in influence or taking up of roles that imply a conflict of interest, in the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe in general.
Commitment to the rule of law, integrity, transparency, and public accountability should be effectively enforced as the key principles of the work of the Parliamentary Assembly. If such a decision is not made now, reputational damage to PACE may become irreparable, preventing PACE from fulfilling its role as a guardian of human rights across the Council of Europe region.
Signatures:
1. The Netherlands Helsinki Committee
2. International Partnership for Human Rights (Belgium)
3. Centre for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia)
4. Freedom Files (Russia/Poland)
5. Norwegian Helsinki Committee
6. Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
7. Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations (Georgia)
8. Article 19 (UK)
9. The Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House (Belarus/Lithuania)
10. Index on Censorship (UK)
11. Human Rights House Foundation (Norway)
12. Human Rights Movement “Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”
13. PEN International (UK)
14. Crude Accountability (USA)
15. Legal Transformation Center (Belarus)
16. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
17. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) (Switzerland)
18. The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
19. Belarusian Helsinki Committee
20. Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine)
21. Promo LEX (Moldova)
22. Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights (Germany/Switzerland)
23. Public Association “Dignity” (Kazakhstan)
24. Human Rights Monitoring Institute (Lithuania)
25. Swiss Helsinki Committee
26. Human Rights Information Center (Ukraine)
27. Public Verdict Foundation (Russia)
28. Albanian Helsinki Committee
29. Kharkiv Regional Foundation “Public Alternative” (Ukraine)
30. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)
31. Women of Don (Russia)
32. DRA – German-Russian Exchange (Germany)
33. Association UMDPL (Ukraine)
34. European Stability Initiative (Germany)
35. International Media Support (IMS) (Denmark)
36. Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden)
37. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (France)
38. Sova Center for Information and Analysis (Russia)
39. Kosova Centre for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (Kosovo)
40. Truth Hounds (Ukraine)
41. People in Need Foundation (Czech Republic)
42. Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (Belgium)
43. Macedonian Helsinki Committee
44. International Youth Human Rights Movement
45. Human Rights First (USA)
46. Regional Center for Strategic Studies (Georgia/Azerbaijan)
47. Human Rights Club (Azerbaijan)
48. Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) (Azerbaijan)
49. Media Rights Institute (Azerbaijan)
50. Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy (Azerbaijan)
51. Institute for Peace and Democracy (Netherlands/Azerbaijan)
52. Turan News Agency (Azerbaijan)
53. Democracy and NGO development Resource Center (Azerbaijan)
54. Youth Atlantic Treaty Association (Azerbaijan)
55. Monitoring Centre for Political Prisoners (Azerbaijan)
56. Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners (Azerbaijan)
