AZERBAIJAN: NAKHCHIVAN AUTHORITIES REPORT RELEASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000083 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2020 TAGS: AJ IR PGOV PHUM SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: NAKHCHIVAN AUTHORITIES REPORT RELEASE OF ALL DETAINEES IN HUMAN RIGHTS CASE REF: A. BAKU 69 ¶B. BAKU 49 ¶C. BAKU 32 ¶D. BAKU 27 Classified By: Charge Donald Lu, for reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) Summary: OSCE Ambassador Cankorel told Charge that during his January 28-29 visit to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and Bananyar village, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Vasib Talibov, told him that the criminal case was closed on the Bananyar village incident (reftels B-D). Morever, Talibov claimed that there had been no prosecutions, no arrests and that he regretted the incident of harassment of the two diplomats on January 13. He did admit that police had interrogated several people from the village following the December 28 Ashura religious ceremony. Talibov and his government portrayed the matter as stemming from Iranian attempts to spread religious extremism (reftel A). The European Commission confirms that as of the end of January, they had reports of only one remaining detainee. The OSCE Ambassador's discussions reveal that international and local pressure appears to have won the release of most or all of the detainees and resulted in a coordinated message from the government blaming the incident on the Iranians. End Summary. Arrests, What Arrests? -------------- ¶2. (C) During a briefing for the U.S., EU, COUNCIL of Europe and Norwegian missions, OSCE Ambassador Bilge Cankorel discussed the outcome of his recent trip to Nakhchivan. He indicated that his reception had been quite different from the hostile treatment of the U.S. and Norwegian diplomats on January 12-13. He indicated that senior Nakhchivani officials were eager to tell their story and take him to Bananyar village. ¶3. (C) Supreme Soviet Chairman Talibov vigorously denied the accusations of police brutality, noting that no charges had been filed, no persons detained overnight and the investigation is now closed. On the issue of the U.S. and Norwegian diplomats that were harassed in Bananyar village on January 13, he said he regretted the incident. He denied any physical harassment, but indicated that he was aware that local group of pro-Karabakh "hooligans" had shouted at them. He invited the diplomats to return to Nakhchivan and Bananyar village. (The Norwegian Ambassador indicated that his staff would not be traveling to Nakhchivan because of security concerns. U.S. acting DCM is planning to visit Nakhchivan on February 21-22.) Fingers Pointed at Iran -------------- ¶4. (C) Talibov repeated to the OSCE Ambassador almost verbatim what the Presidential Apparat told the Charge on January 29 that Iranian provocateurs were to blame for the "uncivilized" religious observance of Ashura in the village. Amb. Cankorel was shown knives and chains that were allegedly used in the Ashura observance. Amb. Cankorel concluded that while many of the facts are in dispute, it is clear that several members of the village were carrying weapons and engaged in acts of violence. The Charge pointed out that the USG does not share the view that such religious observances should be met with police action. Cankorel responded, "If it's not against Azerbaijani law, it should be." Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The OSCE Mission here has been criticized for acting as an apologist for the Azerbaijani Government. Clearly there was a bit of that in this meeting. On the positive side, however, Amb. Cankorel took seriously the request of OSCE member state embassies in Baku to engage on this difficult HUMAN RIGHTS case. The European Commission believes that, as of January 31, only one person from Bananyar remained in detention. We are trying to ascertain whether he has been released. If, in fact, all detainees were released and no criminal charges filed, this may be a small victory for the international community in advocating for HUMAN RIGHTS in Nakhchivan. At a minimum, several members of government, notably in the MFA, have been embarrassed by the treatment of foreign diplomats and this BAKU 00000083 002 OF 002 has brought additional attention to the unfortunate state of human RIGHTS in this autonomous republic. LU