Azerbaijan: Visits & Communications
Correspondence from 2005
The record of correspondence for 2005 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2005/7/Add.1.
Country: Azerbaijan
Type, date and summary of communication:Urgent appeal sent with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom and expression, 1 March 2004. The police in the town of Nakhichevan (Naxçivan) reportedly refused to protect an Adventist pastor, Khalid Babaev, who was threatened with death and driven out of the community by local men. Reports indicate that local members of the Muslim community had threatened to sacrifice Babaev as a holy duty and to halt Adventist religious activity in Nakhichevan. Pastor Babaev was told that if he held another religious service, a mob would attack his house.
Government reply:Response dated 3 May 2004. According to the Government, an investigation was initiated on the basis of the communication sent by the SR. The Ministry of Justice concluded that "none of the churches in the town of Nakhichevan have an official registration and they are not practically functioning". The investigations did not confirm the alleged threats against Mr. Babayev, and no complaint had been lodged with the police. Appropriate measures have been taken to ensure the personal safety of Mr. Babayev.
Observation of the Special Rapporteur:Response dated 3 May 2004. According to the Government, an investigation was initiated on the basis of the communication sent by the SR. The Ministry of Justice concluded that "none of the churches in the town of Nakhichevan have an official registration and they are not practically functioning". The investigations did not confirm the alleged threats against Mr. Babayev, and no complaint had been lodged with the police. Appropriate measures have been taken to ensure the personal safety of Mr. Babayev.
Correspondence from 2004
The record of correspondence for 2004 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2004/7/Add.1.
Urgent appeal
On 2 May 2003, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, transmitted an urgent appeal to the Government of Azerbaijan regarding the situations of the following persons.
Eldar Zeynalov, Chief of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan (HRCA), and Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy, were reportedly the victims of a series of attacks resulting from an alleged defamation campaign. Fears were expressed that their lives could be in danger. On 22 April 2003, a former Baku City public official and current member of the leadership of the Musavat Party allegedly accused the two men on the television channel "ANS" of being "enemies of the people”. Mr. Zeynalov's private home phone number was allegedly given and the audience asked to “take action”. The following day, a group of 30 men, including members of AXCP-3 and the Organization for the Liberation of Karabakh (QAT), allegedly attacked the HRCA office and issued a written statement demanding that criminal proceedings be opened against Mr. Zeynalov on charges of “treason to the Motherland”. It was further reported that on 24 April 2003, a bigger group, including members of Musavat and QAT, returned to the organization's office where they allegedly burnt a photograph of Mr. Zeylanov and threw chemicals around the premises. The police, reportedly present during these incidents, allegedly failed to take any action. On 25 April 2003, the HRCA premises were allegedly attacked once more, again in the presence of the police, by members of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), who accused Mr. Zeynalov of being Armenian and demanded that he be exiled. On 28 April, the office of the Institute of Peace and Democracy and Mehdi Mehdiyev, Director of the Human Rights Resource Centre, who had spoken out against the previous incidents, were allegedly attacked. It was reported that, on 29 April 2003, security guards who had been hired by HRCA on 25 of April to protect the organization's premises allegedly failed to show up, explaining later that they had been “strongly advised” to terminate this service by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Security. It was alleged that this wave of attacks, which occurred during the pre-electoral period, might have been part of a campaign to discredit Mr. Zeynalov’s human rights work and that of his organization by accusing him of being an ethnic Armenian origin and working against the interests of Azerbaijan.
Communication sent
On 4 June 2003, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent a communication to the Government of Azerbaijan in connection with the case of Mailk Gulami oglu Ailyev, a 35-year-old resident of Baku who was reportedly subjected to ill-treatment by a prosecutor (whose name is known to the Special Rapporteur) and other officers at the 19th Nasimi District police station on 28 May 2003. He was reportedly tortured in order to make him confess to a crime he claimed he had not committed. As a result of this treatment, his lungs were allegedly severely damaged, reportedly leading to his death on 12 January 2003, while imprisoned at labour reformatory No. 3.
Communication received
On 16 September 2003, the Governement of Azerbaijan responded to the letter regarding the case of Mailk Gulami oglu Ailyev. The Government reported that there had been an investigation by the Procurator-General’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan in connection with that matter. On 28 May 1998, following an argument, Mr. Alyev committed premeditated murder, shooting dead Faik Agarz ogli Allakhverdiev. On 28 May 1998, the Nasimi District Procurator’s Office, Baku, initiated criminal proceedings for offences under articles 95 and 220 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On 5 September 1998, Mr. Alyev was arrested, charged and remanded in custody. During a search, he was found to be in possession of opium for which he was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment. The Government explained that Mr. Alyev died on 12 January 2003 after he fell ill from pulmonary tuberculosis while serving his sentence in a strict-regime colony in the Azizbekov district of Baku. The Government finally stated that neither during the preliminary investigation nor in court was any complaint received from Mr. Alyev concerning the use against him of illegal methods of questioning and no evidence of such use was found during the attempt at verification made by the State.
Correspondence from 2003
The record of correspondence for 2003 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2003/Add.1.
Urgent appeals
On 10 June 2002, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Azerbaijan regarding the inhabitants of the Nardaran settlement who have reportedly been approaching authorities with repeated requests for the settlement of social and economic problems and replacement of local authorities in Nardaran since January 2002. On 3 June 2002, the Prosecutor of Sabunchi district is said to have invited eight elders of the village to the Prosecutor’s Office to discuss the issue of nominating Inayat Rustamov for the post of representative of Nardaran. At 9.20 a.m. on the same day, 19 buses and 16 cars filled with policemen and internal security troops, apparently led by the vice-chief othe Baku City Police and armed with truncheons and firearms, reportedly arrived at Nardaran. The policemen cordoned off the village. It is believed that the Prosecutor informed the inhabitants of Nardaran that the eight elders had been arrested and taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and accused of terrorist activities. In the meantime, villagers crowded into the square. At around 9.20 p.m, policemen allegedly started to beat people with truncheons with a view to dispersing the crowd which began to throw stones at policemen and beat them with sticks and stones. Policemen are then said to have fired on people and four persons are believed to have been shot. Alikhasan Agabalaoglu Agayev is said to have been shot dead while Khalid Mamedov suffered neck injuries. More than 50 people are said to have received severe injuries. The following persons are believed to have been arrested on 4 June: Elman Qasimov, Hadjibala Ahmedov, Ssadi Qasimov, Rasha Aliyev, Elkhan Djabbarov, Farhad Shikhaliyev, Vusual Agamoglanov, Mizaaga Azizov, the leader of the Salyan branch of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, Elshan Agamaliyev, Seyfulla Aliyev, Hamid Yakhshybeyov, Hikmet Veliyev, Zameddin Rahimzade, Fuzuli Babayev, Etibar Zakiyev, Inayat Rustamov and Hafiz Atakishiyev. It was not known where all these people are currently being detained. In view of the fact that they are being held in incommunicado detention at unknown locations, fears were expressed that they might be at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment while in detention.
Communications sent
On 2 September 2002, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special rapporteur on torture, sent an allegation to the Government of Azerbaijan relating to the following case.
According to the information received, Ilgar Javadov, a 28-year-old engineer with the oil company SOCAR in Azerbaijan, reportedly died following his detention at police station No. 9 in Baku's Sabail district in the early hours of 13 May 2001. He is said to have died as a result of having been severely beaten by police officers. Police sources have reportedly claimed that Mr. Javadov sustained his injuries after falling to his death from the second floor of the police station while trying to escape. No impartial investigation into his death was said to have taken place. The post mortem concluded in May 2001 that Mr. Javadov's death was not caused by ill-treatment. The following month, however, the investigator reportedly found the evidence of the post mortem insufficient and sought a second medical investigation, which was opened on 17 June; however, the second medical investigation reportedly never actually took place. In August, on the basis of the criminal case files, it was reportedly concluded that Mr. Javadov had been beaten during his detention. Four police officers were said to have been charged in connection with Mr. Javadov's death. One police officer, who was on duty the night Mr. Javadov died, was allegedly charged with "negligence" (Criminal Code, art. 314.2). The other three were reportedly initially charged with "incitement to suicide" (art. 125), subsequently changed to "abuse of power" (art. 309). The latter three were reportedly released following a ruling by Sabail district court on 25 May, based on the conclusion of the post mortem that Mr. Javadov's death was not caused by ill-treatment. The criminal case against them, however, remained open. On 14 November, the procurator of Sabail district is said to have turned down an appeal by the three men's lawyers to close the case against them. On 26 February 2002, one day after the victim’s family had openly protested the lack of an impartial investigation, the investigator of Sabail district reportedly informed their lawyer that the criminal case against the three police officers had been closed for lack of evidence. This was reportedly to punish the family for going public. The criminal case against the first police officer allegedly remains open. On 2 March 2002, the case was referred to Sabail district court. Following a complaint by Mr. Javadov's wife challenging the impartiality of the court, the case file was reportedly referred to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan on 2 April 2002. The police officer is said not to be in custody, but reportedly had to sign an undertaking not to leave Baku.
On 18 September 2002, the Special Rapporteur transmitted an allegation to the Government of Azerbaïdjan regarding the following cases.
According to the information received, on 18 April 2002, Belar Quliev died as a result of torture under police interrogation at the Sabayil District Prosecutor’s office in Baku. According to the information received, on February 2002, Fazail Tagiyev died at a hospital in Sumgait, allegedly as a result of injuries sustained due to torture under interrogation by the police at Sumgait police department.
Communications received
By letter dated 13 December 2001, the Government of Azerbaïdjan replied to an allegation sent by the Special Rapporteur on 17 September 2001. The Government provided information relating to the death of Ilgar Alirz ogly Djavadov, who was wrongly taken to the Sabail district police station by police officers on 12 May 2001 as he did not have identity papers. The Government reported that a criminal investigation was ongoing and that it had so far failed to show either that Mr. Djavadov had been deliberately killed or that he had been driven to a suicidal state. On 17 May three policemen were placed in pre-trial detention on the basis of a decision by the Sabail district court. On 25 May 2001, in response to a submission by the Sabaiul district procurator, the Sabail district court determined that the pre-trail detention of the three police officers should be replaced by something more lenient. As a result, on 26 May they were released from custody and placed under house arrest. The investigation into this case is continuing.
Correspondence from 1983-2002
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has been corresponding with Governments regarding alleged violations since the mandate was established over two decades ago. While the Project on Extrajudicial Executions is making efforts to provide easily browsed versions of as many years as possible, much of the earlier correspondence is available only in the PDF versions of reports from 1983 to the present.