AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES TIP, MEDIA CRACKDOWN, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000833

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP: MEGAN HALL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES TIP, MEDIA CRACKDOWN, AND
POLICE ADVISOR WITH MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS RAMIL
USUBOV

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a June 22 meeting with Minister of
Internal Affairs Ramil Usubov, the Ambassador delivered the
2007 Trafficking in Persons Report, highlighting areas
identified in the report as needing greater GOAJ action. The
Minister was receptive to most suggestions, and agreed to
continue working with the U.S. and the international
community to increase Azerbaijan's anti-TIP efforts. The
Ambassador raised U.S. concerns with the deteriorating media
freedom situation, noting that the Ministry could improve the
situation by vigorously investigating cases of violence
against journalists. She listed five high-profile cases in
particular, including the unsolved 2005 murder of opposition
journalist Elmar Huseynov; the Minister responded that he did
not understand why we only raised unsolved cases, not those
that the MIA had solved. Regarding the U.S. proposal to
place a police advisor within the MIA, Usubov said that he
welcomed a police advisor of the USG's choosing, but would
not allow this individual to work within the MIA, noting that
he had given the same response after receiving similar
proposals from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. END SUMMARY

THE GOAJ'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS
--------------


2. (C) On June 22, the Ambassador met with Minister of
Internal Affairs Ramil Usubov to deliver the 2007 Trafficking
in Persons Report, and to discuss a range of other issues.
The Minister opened the meeting by noting that the Ministry
of Internal Affairs (MIA) has stepped up its efforts to fight
organized crime, drug trafficking, and trafficking in persons
since his last meeting with the Ambassador in January. He
noted that he appreciated the Embassy's cooperation in
conducting trainings on terrorism response and mine-sweeping.
Usubov said that he had reviewed the TIP Report, and that he
had hoped for a higher tier ranking; regardless, he said the
MIA wanted to increase its efforts to combat TIP. According
to the Minister, the MIA wants to increase the number of
investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of traffickers,
but he said that the courts remain biased. Usubov said that
many traffickers receive light sentences, largely due to the
fact that most convicted traffickers are women with small
children. (NOTE: Azerbaijani law provides for lighter
sentencing for pregnant women and women with small children;
this applies to all crimes.)


3. (C) Usubov said that the MIA has finished renovating the
location designated to house the pending nationwide toll-free
victims' assistance hotline, and that several phone lines had
already been connected. However, the sewage system beneath
the newly-constructed building is not ready, although the
Minister said he had discussed this with the Baku Mayor, who
promised that the system would be ready within two to three
months. The Ambassador noted that after several years of
solidly increasing its anti-TIP efforts, the GOAJ had reached
a plateau last year. She outlined U.S. concerns,
particularly the need to get the hotline up and running, to
establish a nationwide victims' referral mechanism, and
pressed upon Usubov the need for the GOAJ to increase its
TIP-prevention efforts.


4. (C) Noting that the Tier 2 ranking was "not bad," the
Minister conceded that the GOAJ could increase its efforts to
combat TIP. He outlined the progress the GOAJ has made since
developing its TIP National Action Plan in 2004, pointing out
that arrests, prosecutions, and convictions have increased
exponentially. Usubov said that a national referral
mechanism already exists; that representatives of nine
ministries meet regularly to coordinate anti-TIP efforts.
Further, he said that the media now devotes more attention to
TIP, and that victims can learn about TIP from television and
recognize their situation. (NOTE: It is clear that Usubov
does not understand what we mean by a national referral
mechanism; we will follow up at the working level.) The
Minister also mentioned that while the victims' assistance
hotline is not yet functional , the MIA has other hotlines
that can be used to report TIP crimes.

POLICE ADVISOR
--------------


5. (C) Referring to a Presidential decree on police reform,
the Ambassador asked the Minster about the USG's outstanding
proposal to place a police advisor within the Ministry.
After clarifying a misunderstanding - Usubov had mistakenly
thought he would be required to request this position - he
said he would be happy to cooperate with a USG-funded police

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advisor. However, the Minister said, it would not be
possible for this individual to work within the MIA. Too
many other countries want to do this, Usubov said, listing
Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine as examples of countries from
which he had received similar proposals. Noting that Russia
extradites to Azerbaijan approximately 350 individuals per
year, the Minister asked why he would let the U.S. place an
advisor within the MIA when he would not allow Russia to do
so. He also said that Azerbaijan has placed such advisors in
other countries, but that these individuals work out of the
Azerbaijani Embassies, not within other governments'
ministries.

INVESTIGATING VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS
--------------


6. (C) The Ambassador turned to the ongoing bilateral human
rights and democracy dialogue, noting serious U.S. concerns
over the deteriorating media freedom situation. She
highlighted the Ministry's responsibility to rigorously
investigate cases of physical violence against journalists.
The Ambassador listed five unsolved cases of particular
interest to the U.S.: Elmar Huseynov, the Monitor magazine
Editor-In-Chief who was murdered on March 2, 2005; Uzeyir
Jafarov, the Gundelik Azerbaijan Editor who was beaten on
April 20; Fikret Huseynli, the Azadliq newspaper reporter who
was abducted and beaten on March 6, 2006; Bahaddin Haziyev,
the Bizim Yol newspaper Editor-In-Chief who was abducted,
beaten, and had his legs run over by the assailants' car on
May 18, 2006; and Nijat Huseynov, the Azadliq newspaper
reporter who was beaten and stabbed on December 25, 2006.


7. (C) The Minister said that democracy and human rights are
a priority for the GOAJ. Without specifying to which cases
he was referring, Usubov asked why the Ambassador did not
inquire about cases that the MIA had solved. Besides, he
continued, is there any country that has solved all of its
criminal cases? The Minister said that while it is not in
the GOAJ's interest for journalists to be beaten, they do not
behave professionally or ethically. According to Usubov,
many of the injured journalists had been beaten during
protests; he said they should wear clear press identification
so that this will not happen. (NOTE: Journalists already
wear blue vests to indicate their affiliation, but many have
been injured while wearing these vests.)

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) Although Usubov does not fully understand some of the
technical aspects of combating trafficking in persons, he
seems to have the right attitude in addressing the problems.
Further, working level MIA TIP personnel are very engaged,
and have already began following up on some of the concerns
the Ambassador raised. We will continue to press the MIA for
additional progress on points raised by the Department in
this year's TIP review. Usubov's comments on the media
situation are not surprising, as he is the government
official who has filed the most criminal defamation lawsuits
against journalists. In stating that journalists should be
clearly identified so that they are not inadvertently beaten
at protests, he is missing the point that police should not
behave violently when dispersing a crowd, and the point that
several journalists in Azerbaijan have been violently
attacked not while attending demonstrations, but rather
targeted in front of their homes or offices. We note that in
a letter to the Ambassador in March, Usubov identified crowd
control (along with combating human trafficking, illegal
migration, and high-technology crimes; modernizing methods of
combating drug trafficking; and improving forensic
investigations) as areas in which he seeks additional USG
training. We will use this opening to intensify efforts on
police reform; we will continue to engage Usubov and other
GOAJ officials broadly on the need for democratic reform,
including respect for human rights and greater media freedom.
DERSE