HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS NOW FOCUS ON RELIGIOUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000138 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, DRL, INR FOR PSTRONSKI E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2020 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM PREL KIRF KISL IR AJ SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS NOW FOCUS ON RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM AND PROPERTY RIGHTS REF: BAKU 17 Classified By: A/DCM TERRY DAVIDSON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On February 22 POLOFF met with three of Azerbaijan's leading human rights defenders for an update on their major concerns. Topping their list were increasing Iranian-inspired religiosity and property rights, as well as political prisoners and NGO registration problems. The rights advocates said that problems with socio-economic rights are now becoming much more prevalent than complaints about purely political rights. In a growing city like Baku, this tension between haves and have-nots is likely to expand in the future. END SUMMARY. Fear of Growing Iranian Influence -------------- ¶2. (C) On February 22 POLOFF met with three of the leading human rights defenders for an update on their major concerns. Novella Jafaroglu of the Association for the Protection of Women's Rights explained that they were growing more concerned about the influence of Islamic extremism in the country, and particularly about Iranian influences. She noted that walking around Baku she can increasingly see shops selling Iranian religious materials and more young people attending Friday prayers. She also said the February 13 march of 60-70 religious believers that ended in a confrontation with police was an Iranian signal to the GOAJ, and directly related to the GOAJ's increasingly close relations with Israel. She condemned Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, often cited as a leading religious freedom defender, for speaking out only when Iranian interests were involved, noting that he said nothing about the events in Bananyar in December-January (reftel). (COMMENT: Senior Azerbaijani officials, including President Aliyev have claimed to the Embassy that the Bananyar events were instigated by Iran, although all of our regular interlocutors in Nakhchivan strenuously denied that the events there were connected with religion or Iran. END COMMENT.) Property Rights Now Biggest Public Complaint -------------- ¶3. (C) Saadat Bananyarly, of the International Service for Human Rights, stated this increase in outward religious observance was directly related to growing dissatisfaction with socio-economi conditions in Azerbaijan. While previously thee three ladies worked largely on questions of political rights, they say they now spend most of their time dealing with questions of property rights. Currently, the three women are helping residents on Fizuli Street in downtown Baku, who are being forced from their homes by the GOAJ to make way for a linear park project and paid a reported 1250 AZN (1525 USD) per square meter in compensation. This amount is well below market price, and the residents claim they cannot buy new homes with their eminent domain compensation. Saida Gojamanly of the Bureau of Human Rights and Respect for the Law explained that the residents complained to the Presidential Administration, and were told that the GOAJ had allocated 4000 AZN (4880 USD) per square meter to obtain the properties, which number in the hundreds. There is no information on where the rest of this money went, but the ladies assume it went into the pockets of the local authorities. Residents have had no success in demanding the full compensation amount, and are being told to take the 1250 AZN or they will be forcibly ejected from their homes without compensation. Good News for Some Political Prisoners but Not All -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Gojamanly also said that the three advocates met with Fuad Alasgarov, the President's Advisor on Law Enforcement, in December. They told Alasgarov that the death of Novruzali Mammadov in prison was bad for the image of Azerbaijan, and that journalist Mushfig Huseynov might soon die as well. Alasgarov asked the ladies for the names of other sick prisoners, to which they produced a list of six names. Four of these people, including Mushfig Huseynov, were released in the December pardon. Jafaroglu stated that the ladies also met with Qail Mammadov, who is the head judge in the appeal hearing of jailed youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan BAKU 00000138 002 OF 002 Hajizade. Mammadov told them that he would release the young men if he could, but that he had to take his order from those above him. Jafaroglu also confirmed that the men's defense lawyers are purposefully delaying the appeal hearings so that the men may remain in the modern pre-trial detention facility, rather than move to an decrepit Soviet-era penal colony. Restrictions on NGOs -------------- ¶5. (C) Gojamanly ended the meeting by outlining their concerns over the new amendment to the NGO law which requires NGOs to register all grants with the GOAJ. The registration process requires that all documents be notarized, then registered with the Ministry of Justice, and finally registered with the Ministry of Finance. Gojamanly stated that this cumbersome process will likely be used to restrict any election-related activities in advance of the November parliamentary elections. She also explained that it is currently impossible to do any training activities outside of Baku without prior permission of the Presidential Administration. These three ladies are sometimes given permission, but they stressed that most NGOs are not. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) To go through an entire meeting with Azerbaijani human rights defenders and not hear one word about freedom of speech or freedom of assembly is a rare event. These fundamental political freedoms are generally considered to be the largest problems with human rights in Azerbaijan. The fact that these women now say they spend the majority of their time dealing with issues of socio-economic rights may be a signal of changing expectations among, at least, the Baku-based population of the country. There is no question that the capital city is growing in both size and density, and with that the disparity between haves and have-nots is becoming clearer. This is likely to be a source of continuing tension in the future, as many here feel they are owed a decent standard of living, with or without free speech rights, given the luxury that increasingly surrounds them. LU