Baku to oversee democracy in Congo, Korea – who’ll monitor Azeri democracy?

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan will chair the UN Security Council for Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Morocco and Pakistan appointed co-chairs, according to Azeri foreign ministry spokesman.

As Elman Abvdullayev further noted, Azerbaijan, along with Portugal and UK will act as deputy chairs at UN committee on weapons of mass destruction to be headed by South Africa.

“Azerbaijan will act as co-chair for Sudan committee, to be headed by Columbia; the country will also act as deputy head to the committee for situation in Middle East and Korea,” Day.Az quoted the spokesman as saying.

However, there’s one “but” to Azeri statements, or rather several ones:

“Freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly have encountered serious setbacks in Azerbaijan. Urgent measures must be taken to uphold these fundamental human rights,” the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said publishing observations on the respect of human rights in Azerbaijan, as a follow up to his June 2010 report.

According to the CoE website, one year after the publication of the report, the Commissioner regrets to note that most of the recommendations he made as regards these areas have not been implemented. In some cases, steps taken by the authorities have even run counter to Azerbaijan’s human rights obligations. “One of my recommendations was to end practices of unjustified or selective criminal prosecution of journalists or critical opinion makers. However, resort to such methods has apparently not abated. Fabricated charges have been used to arrest and silence parliamentary candidates, journalists and members of youth groups. Such intimidation is inconsistent with the principles of a democratic society founded on human rights principles and the rule of law. Measures should be taken to release immediately all persons imprisoned because of views or opinions expressed.”

Another source of concern relates to the wave of arrests of activists and political opponents in connection with protests held in Baku in March and April 2011. “These protests were sometimes dispersed with excessive force, and the work of journalists was hindered. Several persons were detained on grounds of violating public order. Six opposition activists were sentenced on 25 August 2011 for participating in ‘actions causing disturbance of public order’, following trials whose conformity with human rights standards has been called into question.”

The Commissioner therefore urges the Azerbaijani authorities to fully respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, in accordance with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. “Freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are indispensable principles of a democratic society. Effective measures must be taken by the Azerbaijani authorities to uphold them.”

“Azerbaijan imitates democracy and human rights,” according to Deputy Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch Rachel Denber.

As Denber stated, “the political and judicial authorities of Azerbaijan, its law enforcement agencies will not be able to mislead world public opinion, because everyone knows that dozens of people were punished for attempt to implement a legal right for freedom of assembly and speech.”

"Unfortunately, Azerbaijan is imitating democracy and human rights. It can be seen from the records of the country, submitted to international organizations such as the UN. Behind those signs of normal legal framework, which meets international norms and standards, there is a weak implementation of laws that have led to a gradual (since 2003) deterioration of the human rights situation," Denber said.

The list could be continued forever. Congo and Korea may consider themselves “lucky”.