P-1 REFERRAL FOR U.S. RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM:

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000629

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR PRM, DRL AND EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2028
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM KDEM CVIS AJ
SUBJECT: P-1 REFERRAL FOR U.S. RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM:
KHALIL, AGIL

REF: A. BAKU 167

B. BAKU 257

C. BAKU 481

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Embassy has identified Azerbaijani
journalist Agil Khalil as a candidate for the U.S.
Resettlement Program as a Priority One referral. Khalil
submitted a written request for refugee resettlement in the
U.S. to the Embassy. In this request, Khalil alleges that he
is in danger of retaliation by elements within the government
of Azerbaijan because of his investigation into their corrupt
business activities. Since February of this year, he claims
to have suffered two physical attacks, including a severe
beating and a near-fatal stabbing. Khalil alleges that he
identified his assailants as known Ministry of the National
Security (MNS) officers. He also alleges he was physically
abused during an interrogation by two investigators from the
Prosecutor General's Office (PGO). Khalil claims that he is
under constant surveillance and is being pressured and
intimidated to drop his criminal complaint against the
assailants. The incidents of violence and intimidation
against Khalil are the latest in the continuing trend of
attacks and threats against journalists in Azerbaijan.
Khalil's case is supported by several well-known opposition
journalists working in Azerbaijan and has been highlighted by
the OSCE, Reporters Without Borders and several local human
rights activists. Post has been closely monitoring Khalil's
case and finds his claim credible. END SUMMARY.

KHALIL'S CASE
--------------

2. (C) According to Khalil, he has worked as a reporter for
the opposition newspaper Azadliq for almost two years. This
newspaper, affiliated with the opposition Popular Front
Party, has been under a constant assault by the government
for its investigative reporting and critical coverage of the
government. Khalil's reporting focused on economic issues,
particularly government corruption and other issues sensitive
to the Government of Azerbaijan. According to Khalil and
other journalists, the attacks against him were brought to
silence him. Khalil told us that he no longer feels safe
living in Azerbaijan after these attacks and the continuing
pressure he has experienced.

3. (C) The first assault on Khalil took place on February
22, 2008 (ref a). According to Khalil, he was assigned to
investigate reports that trees were being chopped down and
burned in Baku's famous "Olive Gardens Park." Khalil arrived
at the gardens to investigate and was confronted by two
unidentified men who demanded to know who he was and why he
was taking photographs. Khalil identified himself as a
journalist and presented his press identification, which the
two men confiscated. Khalil said that one of the men struck
him on the neck and then tried to choke him with his camera
strap. Khalil ended up on the ground and the two men
repeatedly kicked him. Three passersby filmed the incident
using their mobile phones, and posted it on Youtube. Based
on the footage, Khalil claims to have identified his
attackers as MNS officers Akif Chovdarov and Dagbei
Allahverdiyev. (Comment: One of the alleged attackers, Akif
Chovdarov, is a known MNS officer who is widely recognized in
the general public for his role in the investigation and
break up of a kidnapping and extortion ring within the
Ministry of Internal Affairs. End Comment)

4. (C) Khalil stated that he was taken to a public hospital
where physicians examined his injuries. Emboff who met with
him shortly after this assault took place observed that his
right hand was bandaged; he had a fractured finger on a
splint; he had a bandage over his right eye and there were
traces of bruising under his eye and on his throat. Khalil
also complained of extensive bruising on his chest and over
his liver. Following this attack, Khalil filed a criminal
complaint with the local police station. According to
Khalil, he then started getting dozens of phone calls from
unknown numbers; in each instance, the caller did not speak.
Khalil said that he was also offered a bribe of 20,000
dollars by government officials on two separate occasions to
drop his complaint.

5. (C) The second attack took place on March 13, 2008, when
Khalil was stabbed near his heart (ref b). According to
Khalil, he was walking from his newspaper's offices when he
noticed two individuals following him. He broke into a run,
but assailants caught up with him, and were joined by two
others. One assailant held Khalil while another stabbed him.
Khalil survived the attack, but lost a significant amount
of blood and had to undergo minor surgery. Following this
attack, Khalil met with the Ambassador in his hospital room.
He appeared visibly weak and frightened.

6. (C) The third attack and an attempted kidnapping

reportedly took place on May 7, 2008 (ref c). According to
Khalil, he was attacked by four unidentified individuals on a
subway train in Baku, but he managed to fight them off. When
he got off the train, the same individuals attempted to force
him into a car and kidnap him. Following this incident,
Khalil filed another complaint with the PGO and then fled to
his parents, home in rural Kurdamir. Two PGO investigators
traveled to Kurdamir to question him. Khalil said that
during the course of questioning over the next two days, the
investigators slapped him, beat him on the abdomen, slammed
his fingers in a door and covered his mouth with a
cellophane-like material to prevent him from breathing.
Although Khalil filed a complaint about these beatings with
the Prosecutor General, no investigation has been completed
up to this point.

7. (C) Khalil filed criminal complaints following each of the
assaults against him. The Government of Azerbaijan, however,
to date has not taken serious steps to investigate the
complaints. On the contrary, the government has been
carrying out a PR campaign against Khalil, alleging that the
attacks against him were the result of his alleged sexual
liaison with another man. In a widely publicized statement
carried on TV and in the print media, the Prosecutor General
Zakir Garalov announced that there was no proof that Khalil
was attacked in either February or May, and that the stabbing
in March was by Khalil's alleged homosexual lover Sergey
Strekhalin. Several TV stations also ran reports describing
Khalil's alleged homosexual affair and stating that his
family was satisfied with the conduct of the PGO's
investigation, which Khalil stated was untrue. OSCE Special
Media Representative Milkos Haraszti, who has been closely
following Khalil's case, branded this press coverage a
massive propaganda campaign "prepared and managed from a
single center."

8. (C) The PGO also announced that they opened a criminal
case against Khalil's alleged former lover. According to
Khalil, they are now using this case as the grounds for
preventing him from leaving the country. With assistance
from the Embassy of Norway, Khalil attempted to leave
Azerbaijan three times between May 9 and 11. At each border
crossing -- Baku International Airport, a land border with
Russia and a land border with Iran -- border officials told
Khalil he could not leave the country due to unspecified
problems with the authorities. As recently as June 19, he
again attempted to leave for France via the Baku
International Airport and was prevented from boarding by
border officials.
FEARS FOR HIS SAFETY
--------------

9. (C) The Embassy believes that Khalil continues to face a
very real threat to his security. This conclusion is shared
by other Western embassies, international NGOs and local
activists who have been monitoring his case. OSCE Special
Media Representative Milkos Haraszti privately told us that
he believes that Khalil is being persecuted in retaliation
for his investigative reporting into government corruption.
He said that credible sources informed him that Khalil's case
might stem from the fact that he stumbled into a long-running
feud between the Ministries of Internal Affairs and National
Security in carrying out his work as a journalist. He
characterized attacks against Khalil as typical Soviet-style
dirty tricks, part of a long term pattern of government
officials abusing the justice system and the media to punish
perceived enemies.

10. (C) Despite repeated appeals for action by embassies and
international organizations to the Azerbaijani government at
all levels, no government agency is taking Khalil's
complaints seriously. In the last two weeks, the
government, in response to the international pressure, took
some limited steps to improve Khalil's security by assigning
three police officers to guard him. However, this is at best
a temporary measure and will not guarantee Khalil's safety in
the long run. More importantly, the absence so far of any
strong statement by the government condemning violence
against journalists or of any real action to investigate or
prosecute those responsible has sent a clear signal that such
attacks were acceptable and can be carried out with impunity.
RECOMMENDATION
--------------

11. (C) The Embassy has been closely monitoring Khalil's
case and strongly believes that he is in serious danger of
being further harmed or killed. The actions against Khalil
are politically motivated because he is being persecuted in
retaliation for his investigative reporting into government
corruption. Based on the above information and Department's
interest in this case, we believe that Khalil has a well
founded fear of persecution and recommend him for acceptance
into the U.S. Resettlement Program.
DERSE