DRL A/S KRAMER: DIALOGUE ON DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BAKU 001148

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL FOR DAVID KRAMER AND WENDY
SILVERMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM AJ
SUBJECT: DRL A/S KRAMER: DIALOGUE ON DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN
RIGHTS

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: On November 19 DRL A/S David Kramer and the
Ambassador attended a marathon meeting at the Foreign
Ministry with a wide range of government and non-government
officials, chaired by a Deputy Foreign Minister, on the full
realm of democracy and human rights issues. Attendees gave
briefings on the GOAJ's latest steps on democratic political
processes, media freedom, rule of law and human rights. A/S
Kramer raised a number of problematic issues in each of these
areas, and while the GOAJ listened, they made few promises to
address the issues. There has been a spate of bad news on
democracy and human rights issues in Azerbaijan since
President Aliyev's re-election, and therefore continued USG
engagement in this sphere remains critical. End Summary


2. (C) Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor David Kramer and the Ambassador met with a
large panel of GOAJ officials and non-governmental
activists, chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Vagif Sadikov,
on November 19 for over five hours. Despite the GOAJ's
reluctance to formally designate the meeting a "Democracy and
Human Rights Dialogue," (preferring to characterize it as
"consultations on a full range of democracy and human rights
issues") the discussion covered the broad range of democracy
and human rights issues on the agenda we have discussed
quarterly since March 2007.

Introductory Comments
--------------


3. (C) DFM Sadikov opened the meeting by welcoming the U.S.
guests and expressing his appreciation of relations with the
United States. He stated that the GOAJ is looking for more
help from the U.S. in solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
as this conflict is an obstacle not only in
political-military affairs, but also on the road to further
democratization. Sadikov stated that the GOAJ attaches
importance to all issues in the democracy and human rights
sphere, and that is why the MFA invited a large number of
experts to the meeting to provide detailed explanations of
difficult topics. A/S Kramer thanked DFM Sadikov and
explained that he came to Azerbaijan as a friend, and friends
can talk frankly and respectfully to each other.

Democratic Political Processes
--------------



4. (C) Natig Mammadov, secretary of the Central Election
Commission, explained a number of improvements made to the
election process ahead of the October presidential election.
In particular, Mammadov stressed a new emphasis on
transparency, including registration of a large number of
international and domestic observers, presence of
international mass media, live broadcasting of voting
stations via webcams, and the conducting of four exit polls.
(Note: There were three exit polls conducted by
organizations linked to the government, whose methodology was
largely unprofessional. The fourth poll he is referring to
is probably the Election Monitoring Center's parallel vote
tabulation, which is not an exit poll. End note). Mammadov
also stated the CEC was pleased by the statements from most
observers, but not the statement of the European Union
presidency.


5. (C) Kamran Shafiyev, Director of Parliament's Department
of State Service and Human Resources, stated that there are
no limits on freedom of assembly according to the law. He
reminded the group, however, that any meeting that begins
peacefully can turn violent, but that the law on police calls
for proportional force. He stated the law on political
parties was passed in 1991 and now requires changes. The
parliament is currently studying international experience,
and will make changes after this study is complete.


6. (C) A/S Kramer congratulated the participants on the
progress with the presidential election, but encouraged them
to work on the areas for improvement highlighted by
OSCE/ODIHR, which largely had to do with the pre-election
political environment. Specifically, it is important to

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improve the situation of freedom of association and assembly
ahead of the 2010 parliamentary elections and to maintain
open political space for all interested parties. A/S Kramer
asked if the new law on political parties would allocate
funding to parties based retroactively on participation in
the October presidential election. Shafiyev said this was
still under study, to which A/S Kramer asked that the Embassy
be kept informed, as retroactive application would be
problematic.

Media Freedom
--------------


7. (C) Vugar Aliyev of the social-political department of
the Presidential Administration, summarized a number of laws
on media issues in Azerbaijan. He acknowledged that the
financial base of the media is weak and that there is a low
level of professionalism in the media. Thus on July 31 the
President signed a concept paper on state support to the
media, which envisions the use of state resources to address
these problems. Ideas on how to implement this will be given
to the President at the end of the year, after studying
international experience. Aliyev stated that decriminalizing
libel would make Azerbaijan's problems with professionalism
worse. Similarly, journalists need to be held responsible
for any "crimes," and therefore it is problematic to release
the jailed journalists. Faig Gurbanov, head of the Human
Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice added that the
detention conditions of the journalists were fine, and that
the Red Cross can visit them.


8. (C) Gafar Jabiyev of the National Television and Radio
Council explained that television and radio broadcasters need
to be licensed, as spectrum allocation has to be managed.
Any Azerbaijani citizen residing permanently in the country
and owning assets in the country can own a frequency.
Jabiyev claimed that international standards are the same as
Azerbaijani law. All the foreign broadcasters' licenses are
now expired, and there is a growing demand for frequencies,
according to Jabiyev. Therefore the only way for these
stations to have licenses is by a change to the law. Jabiyev
then stated that there could be some type of temporary
decision because of Azerbaijan's relationship with the U.S.,
but that this could only be a temporary solution. (Note:
There are very few FM stations on the AIR at this point,
leaving wide swaths of frequencies that the GOAJ could
allocate to new national stations if such a desire existed.
End Note.)


9. (C) A/S Kramer replied that media freedom is currently
the most sensitive area of the bilateral relationship, and
that the sense in the West is that media freedom is moving in
the wrong direction. This is created by the combination of
arrests and attacks on journalists, the announcement on
foreign broadcasts, and the increased role of the state in
broadcasting. These problems should be addressed by
releasing the journalists in jail, the President making a
statement condemning violence against journalists, and
finding a way to keep foreign broadcasts on the air. A/S
Kramer emphasized that these broadcasts would not need to
continue forever, but for now they are vitally important in
allowing Azerbaijan's citizens access to a diversity of
views. He encouraged the GOAJ participants not to let the
situation deteriorate to the level of Russia, where
journalists end up dead.


10. (C) Deputy FM Sadikov replied that the GOAJ is seriously
committed to freedom of the media and does not intend to
deviate from its goal. The road towards this goal is not
smooth, however. He contended that there are hundreds of
media outlets in Azerbaijan, and that the majority of them
are independent. Overall he says the media environment is
critical of the government and not all critics are in jail.
In addition, the issue of foreign broadcasters on the radio
is not new, as the legislation was passed in 2002 and none of
the statements from the international community has mentioned
this. He agreed that the U.S. and GOAJ should continue a
constructive dialogue on this issue.

Rule of Law
--------------

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11. (C) Faig Gurbanov of the Ministry of Justice stated that
the enhancement of the Soviet-era Collegium, or defense bar,
is important. The MOJ is currently studying international
experience to decide the best way forward. In addition, the
GOAJ has had fruitful cooperation with the American Bar
Association for over 10 years and greatly appreciates their
help. The MOJ is also working on improving the use of
information technology in their court system. They have
worked with the World Bank and French and German governments
on projects in this sphere and will continue to work on an
audio recording system for court protocols. On the Election
Monitoring Center, Gurbanov stated that the MOJ registered
the organization, but then found non-compliance with its
rules and therefore suspended its registration. EMC can use
a wide variety of methods to protest this decision, and the
MOJ is ready to initiate dialogue with the EMC.


12. (C) Huseyn Safarov of the Judicial Legal Council stated
that judges should be independent and that the selection of
judges should be transparent. Azerbaijan has legislation
regulating the function of judges and has been helped by
Council of Europe experts. He contended that the Judicial
Legal Council is completely independent and that there is a
transparent system for court protocols.


13. (C) In response to A/S Kramer's question about reform of
the Collegium (note: this is Azerbaijan's version of a
defense bar ),Gurbanov stated that the organization was
being reformed. Its future format and shape is still being
decided and they are looking to the experience of other
former Soviet countries. He stated that these reforms are
difficult and that it is important to have political will
behind them. He also believes that Azerbaijan needs to
increase the number of attorneys, judges and courts, and that
this process is still underway. The Ambassador replied that
both civil society and business people say that the
independence of the judiciary is the most important issue for
the development of Azerbaijan and that this issue should
remain at the top of the agenda.

Human Rights
--------------


14. (C) Faig Gurbanov stated that conditions in prisons were
improving, but that the major problem is the legacy of the
Soviet penitentiary system. Since 2000, the GOAJ has had an
agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross,
who can visit any prison. They have also worked with the
Human Rights Ombudswoman on guidelines. The MOJ has also
created a public committee to monitor the penitentiary
service and well known human rights defenders are members of
this committee. A/S Kramer replied that it was also
important to work with the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(police) to improve conditions in pre-trial detention, to
which Gurbanov agreed.


15. (C) Oteri Gvaladze of the Presidential Administration's
Section on Work with Legal-Protection Organizations stated
that the issue of political prisoners is very sensitive.
While there is no agreed international definition of a
political prisoner, there is a committee working with human
rights groups to review sensitive cases. Many of these cases
are based on procedural violations during the trial. While
human rights groups have submitted contradictory lists of
political prisoners, this joint task FORCE has resolved more
than 100 cases.


16. (C) Aydin Safikhanli of the Human Rights Ombudswoman's
Office stated that President Aliyev endorsed a new human
rights action plan in December 2006. Many of the topics
discussed in the meeting are reflected in this plan. In
addition, the Ombudswoman's Office has held public hearings
in almost every region of Azerbaijan this year.


17. (C) Yusif Asgerov, director of the legal issues and
registration section of the State Committee on Work with
Religious Associations (SCWRA),stated that the situation of
religion in Azerbaijan is stable and religious tolerance is
high. He said that there are 519 religious groups registered
in Azerbaijan, 32 of which are non-Muslim. The priority work

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of the SCWRA is examining all religious literature that is
imported into Azerbaijan, and removing any that is
"extremist."


18. (C) A/S Kramer replied that in the case of political
prisoners, it would be good for the Task FORCE to prioritize
cases that are on the lists of both NGO camps as well as
those prisoners with health problems, to which Gvalazade
agreed. On religious issues, A/S Kramer warned about the
danger of casting too wide a net when looking for extremists,
and brought up the case of reported forced beard shaving.

Engaged and Empowered Civil Society
--------------


19. (C) Rauf Zeyni, chairman of the National NGO Council,
stated that there are now over 500 NGOs that are members of
the Council. He believes there has been progress on dialogue
between NGOs and the GOAJ, especially with the MOJ, MFA, and
Ministry of Defense. The NGO Support Council allocated 1.2
million AZN (1.5 million USD) in grants to NGOs in 2008 and
plans to give over 2 million AZN in 2009. Zeyni believes
this is not enough to solve Azerbaijan's problems, but it is
a start. He thanked A/S Kramer for his earlier interview on
Radio Liberty and for his continued dialogue on these topics.
A/S Kramer agreed that NGOs play a vital role in society,
but warned that the creation of government-organized NGOs in
Azerbaijan could squeeze out or try to substitute for real
NGOs.

Conclusion
--------------


20. (C) Deputy FM Sadikov concluded the meeting by asking
A/S Kramer in his press statements to call the meeting
"consultations on a wide range of issues pertaining to
democracy and human rights." He agreed to hold meetings in
the future on these topics "anywhere and at any level." He
stated that Azerbaijan has progressed tremendously since
1991, but not everything is smooth. He believes it important
that Azerbaijan's partners know that its goal is full
integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and, even if this
target is far off, progress towards it is important. He
appreciates the support of the USG and believes that a
constructive approach and mutual understanding can solve all
problems.

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


21. (C) A five hour meeting with a dozen interlocutors on
human rights and democracy issues, following A/S Kramer's two
hour discussion with the President and hour-long meeting with
Chief-of-Staff Mehdiyev, is certainly unprecedented in
U.S.-AJ relations The MFA's desire to continue this
discussion is also a good sign, given that the European Union
has encountered strong resistance to setting up a similar
dialogue with the GOAJ. During the five hours, however, the
GOAJ made few promises to address the specific issues raised
by A/S Kramer, particularly on media freedom. Since Ilham
Aliyev's re-election as president in October there have been
no new positive initiatives (such as an expected pardon of
three imprisoned journalists),and indeed, some steps
backwards (such as the threat to terminate VOA, RFE-RL and
BBC broadcasts). . The GOAJ has also considerably sharpened
its line with respect to the link between resolution of NK
and progress on political reform (though, interestingly,
President Aliyev did not draw this connection on this visit
by A/S Kramer but almost all other interlocutors did).
Sustained USG engagement in this sphere is increasingly
important, and will remain so for some time to come. END
COMMENT


22. (U) Assistant Secretary Kramer has cleared this cable.
DERSE