DEMARCHE ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000636

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL/AE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

REF: STATE 68180

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jason P. Hyland per 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) Over the last week, the Embassy has been actively
engaged in advocacy on both media freedom and access to the
Farhad Aliyev trial (reftel). Charge used the occasion of a
May 23 meeting with visiting senior US officials (septel) to
raise our media concerns with President Aliyev. Charge told
President Aliyev that Washington asked him to raise its
concerns on the negative trend in media freedom, and to ask
for his support in addressing these concerns. Aliyev nodded
in agreement, said he was well aware of the situation, and
was working on it. Charge also raised these concerns in a
May 18 conversation with Deputy Foreign Minister
Mammadguliyev, who promised to convey this message to
appropriate officials. Mammadguliyev commented that he
personally believes that libel should be decriminalized but
that journalists cannot be allowed to print irresponsible
lies.


2. (C) Charge raised our concerns about access restrictions
in Farhad Aliyev's trial with Deputy Foreign Minister
Mammadguliyev (the MFA insisted that Foreign Minister
Mammadyarov was unavailable because of a series of visits,
including the Hungarian and Russian Foreign Ministers).
Mammadguliyev was noncommittal, stating that the issue was
not his area of responsibility. He argued that the access
issue should not be of concern to the international
community, as Aliyev is being tried on corruption issues.
Charge responded that it was important that all trials be
conducted in a fair and transparent manner, and that we had
not had such access problems in the past. Mammadguliyev
promised to communicate the USG message to the appropriate
officials. We have also raised these concerns at a variety
of levels throughout the Azerbaijani government, including
the President's Legal Advisor, the President of the Court of
Grave Crimes, and a key aide to the Minister of Justice.
Given the extreme sensitivity of the trial, no one has been
willing to engage us in a substantive discussion.


3. (C) Comment: Now that the preliminary hearings are over,
the Aliyev trial will begin in earnest on May 30. We will
continue to press for courtroom access for the media and for
international observers, and will raise our concerns with
Foreign Minister Mammadyarov and other key officials next
week. The OSCE Office in Baku also is troubled by the access
restrictions, and has raised its concerns in a letter to the
Minister of Justice. We will consult the OSCE on possible
next steps. We also are consulting the OSCE and key Western
embassies on media freedom issues, and have a pending request
for a joint meeting with Presidential Chief of Staff Ramiz
Mehdiyev to raise our concerns over the deteriorating media
climate.
HYLAND