UPDATE ON DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR A/S LOWENKRON'S DIALOGUE WITH AZERBAIJANI FM MAMMADYAROV

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000308 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR DRL A/S LOWENKRON E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM KCOR AJ SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR A/S LOWENKRON'S DIALOGUE WITH AZERBAIJANI FM MAMMADYAROV REF: A. BAKU 38 ¶B. 06 BAKU 1704 ¶C. BAKU 194 ¶D. BAKU 299 ¶E. BAKU 191 Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In preparation for the inaugural session of the US-Azerbaijan dialogue on democracy and human rights, we provide below an update on developments in Azerbaijan since your December meetings in Baku. Septel will provide the strategic context of the intensified democracy dialogue and detail specific meeting objectives for which we might press. SINCE YOUR VISIT -------------- ¶2. (C) POSITIVE NEW OSCE LEADERSHIP: The newly arrived OSCE Baku Head of Office Jose Luis Herrero-Ansola is a credible interlocutor with GOAJ and appears to have the makings of a capable leader. We will work closely with Herrero-Ansola and his OSCE team to implement our shared democracy and human rights objectives in Azerbaijan. ¶3. (C) NEW NATIONAL ACTION PLAN: A week after A/S Lowenkron's December meeting in Baku, President Aliyev issued a decree that ordered government agencies to implement a new National Action Plan on the Protection of Human Rights in Azerbaijan (NAP). The NAP assigned responsibility for the implementation of Azerbaijan's international human rights commitments to specific groups of cabinet agencies and directs Parliament to ensure that laws are passed to codify Azerbaijan's human rights commitments. The NAP also instructs Azerbaijan's courts to uphold and enforce the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) in judicial rulings. (Septel will provide the text of the decree and the NAP and the context of its issuance.) We should explore in the talks how we can use the NAP to spur concrete progress. ¶4. (C) FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY: In January and February, for the first time since the violent police break-up of a peaceful, sanctioned opposition rally on November 26, 2005, the GOAJ allowed the opposition Musavat party to hold two rallies in connection with recent nationwide price hikes. Both rallies were held at one of the GOAJ's "approved" demonstration locations on the outskirts of Baku (ref b). The GOAJ's decision to allow Musavat to protest was a positive step, but the goal remains full restoration of freedom of assembly �0A;critical to Azerbaijan's democratic development. The GOAJ is currently in dialogue with the Council of Europe's (COE) Venice Commission regarding potential changes to the Law on Freedom of Assembly, which we expect to be submitted to Parliament in the fall 2007 session. We should strongly support early GOAJ implementation of the COE recommendations. ¶5. (C) POLITICAL DIALOGUE: President Aliyev recently reaffirmed his support for a new political dialogue to the newly arrived OSCE Ambassador who is ready to take on a leading role in the process. However, we have seen little initiative from any of the parties. Parties maintain that they support a dialogue but clearly are in need of a facilitator to take tangible steps toward establishing such a dialogue. Opposition leaders are not entirely confident that the ruling party has been serious when expressing a desire to conduct an open dialogue and hence are waiting on the ruling party to make the first move. We have been impressed thus far with the new OSCE Ambassador's innovation and leadership and should support his efforts. We should urge the GOAJ to appoint a senior representative as its lead interlocutor in this dialogue. Our full recommendations are included in ref c. ¶6. (C) MEDIA: Following the spate of media freedom setbacks in 2006 which culminated in the three-week suspension of ANS TV and Radio broadcasts, 2007 has gotten off to a quiet start. After canceling a planned February tender for ANS's frequency because of a lack of bidders, the Government announced a new tender closing on March 20 in which ANS participated. Libel remains a criminal offense and while OSCE Baku has taken the lead to working with the GOAJ to remove it from the criminal code, the President's Chief of Staff has since told us this is a non-starter (ref c) because, in his view, the opposition press continues to slander GOAJ officials. Meanwhile, the GOAJ has not made any progress - at least not publicly - into the investigations of several attacks on journalists that took place in 2006. The OSCE Ambassador is also planning to develop new initiatives in this area (for example, by engaging the Presidential Apparat BAKU 00000308 002 OF 002 on individual cases) and to launch a major new training program for journalists. We will support this effort and offer further ideas septel. ¶7. (C) NGO ENGAGEMENT: Prominent NGO leader Arzu Abdullayeva, who participated in A/S Lowenkron's human rights group meeting in December, announced the creation of a new Democracy Council in order to engage the GOAJ in a meaningful dialogue with civil society leaders (ref d). The Council seeks to build on Abdullayeva,s Nagorno-Karabakh Track II diplomacy efforts by bringing together moderate, non-partisan leaders from a cross-section of society to engage the GOAJ in a constructive dialogue. Abdullayeva,s group will be up and running in April and she has worked behind the scenes to develop the support of pro-government leaders including the President's Legal Advisor Fuad Aleskerov. Abdullayeva is well-positioned to undertake this effort because she has credibility with all sides, including the government. We have told Abdullayeva that her initiative is welcome, timely and will positively support our intensified democracy dialogue. ¶8. (C) COMBATING CORRUPTION: Following up on A/S Lowenkron's meeting with Presidential Chief of Staff Medhiyev, Presidential Legal Advisor Fuad Aleskerov subsequently confirmed that the GOAJ will create an international working group on anti-corruption. The group, composed of GOAJ officials and representatives from the USG, Council of Europe, OSCE and Transparency International, will work on Azerbaijan's 2007-2010 anti-corruption program. The GOAJ plans to present Azerbaijan's new anti-corruption program at a May conference hosted in Baku by Transparency International. GOAJ willingness to seek input from an international working group is a positive development. Implementation of the GOAJ's anti-corruption plan continues to be a challenge, but we are hopeful that the prestige of a Transparency International conference in Baku could encourage the GOAJ to take some of the requisite, difficult political steps. ¶9. (C) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: Although the October 2008 Presidential Elections are still a year and a half away, the political maneuvering has already begun. The GOAJ is currently in dialogue with the Council of Europe's Venice Commission regarding potential changes to the electoral code. We believe that this dialogue can result in positive changes, but for Azerbaijan to hold free, fair and transparent elections, the GOAJ must take many steps now to even the political playing field as ODIHR's reports point out. In addition, broader progress on freedom of speech, fully restoring freedom of assembly, and creating the space for real political pluralism to emerge is needed. The Embassy will engage with the OSCE, GOAJ, political parties, and civil society to promote active campaigning from all candidates, robust public debate between candidates, and greater voter turnout among women and youth. Now is the right time for us to work with the GOAJ, OSCE, and COE to take steps to create the atmosphere for democratic elections. DERSE