Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAKU21
2009-01-13 12:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baku
Cable title:
NAKHCHIVAN UPDATE: MORE HR VIOLATIONS AND RETURN
how-toVZCZCXRO5647 OO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHKB #0021/01 0131248 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 131248Z JAN 09 FM AMEMBASSY BAKU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0594 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES PRIORITY RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3202 RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1240
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000021
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KHUM AJ
SUBJECT: NAKHCHIVAN UPDATE: MORE HR VIOLATIONS AND RETURN
OF OPPOSITION
Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Rob Garverick, Reasons 1.4
(b and d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000021
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KHUM AJ
SUBJECT: NAKHCHIVAN UPDATE: MORE HR VIOLATIONS AND RETURN
OF OPPOSITION
Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Rob Garverick, Reasons 1.4
(b and d).
1. (C) Summary: The authorities of the Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic continue to pressure ordinary citizens attempting to
protect their rights. On January 4 an elderly blind man was
imprisoned, and possibly put into a mental institution, for
complaining about the police beating his son. Separately, a
formerly prominent opposition figure in Nakhchivan has
returned to Azerbaijan, and plans to organize the opposition
campaign for the 2010 parliamentary elections. His
activities in the province will be a severe test of the
local authorities' willingness to allow any dissent at all.
End Summary.
Elderly Blind Man Imprisoned for Complaining
--------------
2. (SBU) On 24 December 2008 7 young people were arrested in
Nakhchivan for vandalizing the New Year's tree in the center
of the city. According to the local human rights defenders,
the young people were beaten in detention and then released.
The parents of the 7 complained to the police department, and
on January 4 they were also arrested and beaten. Three of
the families agreed to renounce their complaints and were
released. Ismayil Huseynov, age 72 and blind, and his wife
Khanimzar Huseynova, refused to take back their complaint.
The wife was put under pressure to testify that her husband
is insane, but she was eventually released. Huseynov,
however, remains imprisoned and has probably been transferred
to a mental institution, although the authorities refuse to
confirm this.
3. (C) Opposition newspapers in Baku are now reporting that
the wife and son are also missing, and may be in hiding
somewhere in Nakhchivan. Unconfirmed rumors state that the
border guards have been told not to let the family leave the
enclave. The Embassy is following up with calls to the leader
of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Presidential
Apparat in Baku to express concern about the reports.
Possible Return of Opposition Leader
--------------
4. (C) Separately, on January 4 PolOff met with Asaf Guliyev,
who was formerly the chairman of the oppositon Popular Front
Party in Nakhchivan. (Note: th Popular Front ruled
Azerbaijan in the early 1990, during the Nagorno-Karabakh
war with Armenia. Heydar Aliyev, who hails from Nakhchivan,
oustedPopular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey as Presidentof
Azerbaijan in 1993. End Note) Guliyev explained that he was
active in resistance to the Soviet Union from the 1970s, and
was arrested for his political beliefs under Heydar Aliyev.
He was freed from jail along with hundreds of other alleged
political prisoners after Azerbaijan joined the Council of
Europe in 2001. He organized a united opposition movement in
Nakhchivan ahead of the 2005 parliamentary elections called
the "Democracy Development Center." After the elections,
however, he left the country for Turkey, worried about being
imprisoned again.
5. (C) Guliyev says he has returned to Azerbaijan in order to
organize the opposition in Nakhchivan for the 2010
parliamentary elections. He claims to have gathered the
support of a number of opposition parties in Baku, and as a
first step will set up a communications center so that
opposition members can connect with the outside world via the
Internet. He will also use his center to gather information
about what is happening in Nakhchivan and try to get this
news into newspapers in Baku, as there is currently little
reporting done in Nakhchivan.
Comment
--------------
6. (C) Huseynov's imprisonment is indicative of the
increasing crackdown in Nakhchivan on the ability of ordinary
citizens to protect their rights. This pressure increased in
advance of October's presidential election and does not seem
to be decreasing. The possible return of an opposition
figure with some public support will be a test of whether
there is any room for dissent at all in the province. The
BAKU 00000021 002 OF 002
Embassy will continue to monitor this situation closely.
LU
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KHUM AJ
SUBJECT: NAKHCHIVAN UPDATE: MORE HR VIOLATIONS AND RETURN
OF OPPOSITION
Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Rob Garverick, Reasons 1.4
(b and d).
1. (C) Summary: The authorities of the Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic continue to pressure ordinary citizens attempting to
protect their rights. On January 4 an elderly blind man was
imprisoned, and possibly put into a mental institution, for
complaining about the police beating his son. Separately, a
formerly prominent opposition figure in Nakhchivan has
returned to Azerbaijan, and plans to organize the opposition
campaign for the 2010 parliamentary elections. His
activities in the province will be a severe test of the
local authorities' willingness to allow any dissent at all.
End Summary.
Elderly Blind Man Imprisoned for Complaining
--------------
2. (SBU) On 24 December 2008 7 young people were arrested in
Nakhchivan for vandalizing the New Year's tree in the center
of the city. According to the local human rights defenders,
the young people were beaten in detention and then released.
The parents of the 7 complained to the police department, and
on January 4 they were also arrested and beaten. Three of
the families agreed to renounce their complaints and were
released. Ismayil Huseynov, age 72 and blind, and his wife
Khanimzar Huseynova, refused to take back their complaint.
The wife was put under pressure to testify that her husband
is insane, but she was eventually released. Huseynov,
however, remains imprisoned and has probably been transferred
to a mental institution, although the authorities refuse to
confirm this.
3. (C) Opposition newspapers in Baku are now reporting that
the wife and son are also missing, and may be in hiding
somewhere in Nakhchivan. Unconfirmed rumors state that the
border guards have been told not to let the family leave the
enclave. The Embassy is following up with calls to the leader
of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Presidential
Apparat in Baku to express concern about the reports.
Possible Return of Opposition Leader
--------------
4. (C) Separately, on January 4 PolOff met with Asaf Guliyev,
who was formerly the chairman of the oppositon Popular Front
Party in Nakhchivan. (Note: th Popular Front ruled
Azerbaijan in the early 1990, during the Nagorno-Karabakh
war with Armenia. Heydar Aliyev, who hails from Nakhchivan,
oustedPopular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey as Presidentof
Azerbaijan in 1993. End Note) Guliyev explained that he was
active in resistance to the Soviet Union from the 1970s, and
was arrested for his political beliefs under Heydar Aliyev.
He was freed from jail along with hundreds of other alleged
political prisoners after Azerbaijan joined the Council of
Europe in 2001. He organized a united opposition movement in
Nakhchivan ahead of the 2005 parliamentary elections called
the "Democracy Development Center." After the elections,
however, he left the country for Turkey, worried about being
imprisoned again.
5. (C) Guliyev says he has returned to Azerbaijan in order to
organize the opposition in Nakhchivan for the 2010
parliamentary elections. He claims to have gathered the
support of a number of opposition parties in Baku, and as a
first step will set up a communications center so that
opposition members can connect with the outside world via the
Internet. He will also use his center to gather information
about what is happening in Nakhchivan and try to get this
news into newspapers in Baku, as there is currently little
reporting done in Nakhchivan.
Comment
--------------
6. (C) Huseynov's imprisonment is indicative of the
increasing crackdown in Nakhchivan on the ability of ordinary
citizens to protect their rights. This pressure increased in
advance of October's presidential election and does not seem
to be decreasing. The possible return of an opposition
figure with some public support will be a test of whether
there is any room for dissent at all in the province. The
BAKU 00000021 002 OF 002
Embassy will continue to monitor this situation closely.
LU