AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES MEDIA SITUATION, HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 001514

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES MEDIA SITUATION, HUMAN RIGHTS
ACTION PLAN WITH OMBUDSWOMAN ELMIRA SULEYMANOVA

REF: A. BAKU 1482

B. BAKU 1435

C. BAKU 1140

Classified By: AMBASSADOR ANNE E. DERSE PER 1.4(B,D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: During a December 14 meeting the Ambassador
and Human Rights Ombudswoman Elmira Suleymanova discussed
Azerbaijan's tense media environment. The Ombudswoman said
that she has appealed to President Aliyev to review the
imprisoned journalists' cases to determine if they had
actually committed crimes. She would like the journalists to
be released, but said that criminals must be punished in
accordance with the law. Suleymanova briefed the Ambassador
on implementation of the GOAJ's human rights action plan,
noting that a working group and five sub-groups have been
created. The Ambassador inquired about the status of
imprisoned opposition editor Ganimat Zahid and the death in
custody of Faina Kungurova; Suleymanova responded that
Zahid's condition, which her staff checked on daily, was "not
bad," and promised to visit Kungurova's family. She also
said she would raise the Election Monitoring Center's
registration problems with the Justice Ministry. Although
viewed as not particularly effective, Suleymanova is quite
active, and seems to be operating to the extent of the space
available to her. END SUMMARY


2. (C) In a December 14 meeting with Human Rights Ombudswoman
Elmira Suleymanova, the Ambassador emphasized U.S. concern
over Azerbaijan's tense media environment. She thanked
Suleymanova for her efforts in the case of Nakhchivan Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Ilgar Nasibov and
asked what the Ombudswoman's office was doing in the cases of
the imprisoned journalists and journalists who have been
subjected to physical attacks. The Ambassador raised the
Election Monitoring Center's (EMC's) difficulty in
registering, noting U.S. disappointment that the Ministry of
Justice (MOJ) had denied EMC's sixth registration application
in November. She inquired as to Suleymanova's efforts in
implementing the GOAJ's Human Rights Action Plan, on which
the Ombudswoman's office has been designated to take the lead.


3. (C) The Ombudswoman said that her office is "doing its
best" to improve democratic governance in Azerbaijan.
Unprompted, she referred to the criticism she receives from
NGOs, noting "I still respect them," but said that criticism
"must be balanced." Suleymanova briefed the Ambassador on
her work, including establishing four regional offices (in
Ganja, Jalilabad, Guba, and Sheki),besides the one in the
exclave of Nakhchivan, which she said has declared itself to
be autonomous. In response to the Ambassador's mention of
EMC's registration, Suleymanova said that she would contact
the MOJ regarding the case.


4. (C) Turning to the GOAJ's human rights action plan,
Suleymanova noted that a working group has been created to
monitor implementation of the action plan, which oversees
five sub-groups focused on the areas of improving
legislation; cooperating with international human rights
organizations; protecting the rights of different social
groups, such as children and minorities; improving the GOAJ's
efforts to protect human rights; and human rights education
and research. These sub-groups, Suleymanova explained, are
comprised of NGO representatives, but the main working group
is made up of representatives of relevant government bodies.
The Ombudswoman also shared her plans to organize an
international conference in Baku sometime in the beginning of

2008. Because 2008 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Suleymanova will
declare 2008 the official "year of implementation" of the
GOAJ's human rights action plan. She sought USG cooperation
in preparing the conference, as well as one on June 18, which
she said President Aliyev has newly designated as national
Human Rights Day.


5. (C) In response to the Ambassador's stated concern on the
media situation, Suleymanova said that she has personally
visited all of the imprisoned journalists, with whom she sat
and talked for hours. She said that she wrote an appeal to
President Aliyev, not requesting a pardon per se, but asking
him to review the cases of the imprisoned journalists to
assess if they had actually committed a crime. While
Suleymanova said that she "would like the journalists to be
pardoned," she noted that it is important that those who
commit crimes be punished for their actions under the
framework of Azerbaijani law. It is not a practice "in any
country," Suleymanova continued, to release prisoners based
on their profession. She said she has requested pardons of
specific groups, for example, women and children, the

elderly, persons with disabilities, and sick persons. While
these sometimes include persons believed to be political
prisoners, Suleymanova said that she has never requested
pardoning of anyone because of political prisoner status.
The Ombudswoman's office, she explained, should not be
involved in the political prisoner question, but should take
an unbiased approach to all prisoners.


6. (C) The Ombudswoman said that on occasion, she has made
hospital visits to journalists who have been physically
attacked. How, she asked, can the GOAJ hold the perpetrators
responsible, if the journalists "don't even know who attacked
them?" Turning to the overall tense media environment,
Suleymanova admitted that the situation remains one of the
main obstacles to democratic development. "The government is
not interested in having imprisoned journalists," she said,
"but they sometimes behave unprofessionally." The Ambassador
explained that the USG is spending millions of dollars on
training programs for journalists, but that the GOAJ should
also take steps to improve the media situation: removing
libel from the criminal code; reinstating a moratorium on
public officials filing criminal libel lawsuits; creating an
alternative dispute resolution mechanism for journalists and
complainants to resolve problems outside of the court system;
and vigorously investigating cases of violence against
journalists and prosecuting those responsible. The
Ombudswoman said that she had recommended some of these steps
in her communication with the Presidential Apparat.


7. (C) The Ambassador inquired about the Ombudswoman's recent
visit to then-hunger striking detained Azadliq newspaper
Editor-In-Chief Ganimat Zahid (ref a). Suleymanova said that
she had urged Zahid to stop his hunger strike, but he avowed
to continue "to the end." (Zahid ceased the strike on
December 15.) His condition, which she said her staff
checked daily, was "not bad." The Ambassador raised the
November 18 death of Faina Kungurova at the MOJ Boyuk Shore
Medical Facility (ref b). Suleymanova said that she
personally had visited Kungurova while she was jailed from
2002 to 2004, and that she believed someone from her office
had visited her during this period of pre-trial detention.
"I have personal views on this case that I don't want to
share with anyone," she said. "It's unfortunate that she was
so young and unhappy with her life." Suleymanova promised to
visit Kungurova's family.


8. (C) COMMENT: Although not viewed as particularly
effective, Suleymanova is active. As visiting Council of
Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg said
during his September visit to Baku (ref c),Suleymanova
appears to be operating to the extent of the space that is
available to her. We will continue to engage the
Ombudswoman, who has less than two years left in her
nonrenewable seven-year term, on the human rights situation,
particularly regarding implementation of the GOAJ's human
rights action plan.
DERSE