VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKB #0334/01 0820518
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230518Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2640
INFO RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 1256
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA SZ MAR USUN NEW YORK 0218
RUEHVEN/USMISSION OSCE VIENNA AU

UNCLAS BAKU 000334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR R; EUR - MBRYZA, CGRAFFY; EUR/PPD - JRICKERT, TDAVIDSON; 
EUR/CARC - LBAHL 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM KPAO OPRC PBTS AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: MEDIA REACTION: HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2006 
 
¶1.  Summary: The Azerbaijan Country Report of the annual Human 
Rights Report was criticized by GOAJ officials, even as it was 
welcomed by independent human rights activists and political 
commentators.  The Ambassador used a televised speech at a local 
university to draw attention to the report and Emboffs highlighted 
problem areas in live television and radio appearances.  The report 
and our outreach efforts received fair coverage on one TV station 
and in independent and pro-opposition newspapers, but were largely 
ignored or marginalized by the pro-government mass media. End 
Summary. 
 
OFFICIALS REJECT CRITICISM OF RIGHTS SITUATION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. The GoAJ reacted to the US Department of State's release of the 
Human Rights Report for 2006 with strong criticism.  Several 
Presidential Administration officials reiterated their annual 
accusations that the HR report is biased and reflects the viewpoints 
of 'forces that aim to taint the international image of the 
country.' 
 
¶3. "The report is not objective," said the Head of the Foreign 
Relations Department at the Presidential Administration Novruz 
Mammadov in his interview with commercial Lider TV on March 8.  He 
claimed that the majority of the issues mentioned in the report are 
problems of the past which have already been resolved. "I cannot 
understand why events that occurred in 2003, 2004, and 2005 have 
been analyzed, instead of just 2006? Besides we are addressing the 
issues specified in the document, if they are true, and we are doing 
so successfully."  Head of the Analytical Department at the 
Presidential Administration Fuad Akhundov also complained that the 
report repeated descriptions of incidents from the past, something 
which, in his view, demonstrated the lack of evidence for HR 
violations in 2006. 
 
¶4. Another GoAJ official at the Presidential Administration, Head of 
the Public and Political Department Ali Hasanov flatly rejected the 
report's criticism on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. 
"Journalists in the country are neither pressured nor persecuted. On 
the contrary, media freedom improved in 2006 and journalists are 
working freely."  Hasanov also opposed the 'assertion' that freedom 
of assembly had been curtailed. "The situation in this field is not 
as bad as described in the report. There are no restrictions on 
rallies staged by any organization as long as they are consistent 
with the law," ANS reported on March 9 quoting the government 
spokesman. 
 
RIGHTS ACTIVISTS' REACTION VARY 
------------------------------- 
¶5. The reaction of human rights activists to the report varied.  A 
pro-government NGO activist, leader of the National NGO Forum Azay 
Guliyev was shown saying that the situation of political prisoners 
had been exaggerated and that nobody has been persecuted for their 
political beliefs in Azerbaijan.  Independent activist Sahib 
Mammadov questioned the report's criticism of the situation in the 
penitentiary system, noting that there were positive changes in the 
conditions for inmates and the treatment by the wardens. Arzu 
Abdullayeva, a leading support of women's rights, said that the 
report is objective and reflects the dreadful rights situation in 
the country. 
 
ONLY ONE TV STATION GIVES FAIR COVERAGE TO THE HRR 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶6. Azerbaijan's sole independent television station, ANS TV, stood 
out as the most outspoken network in its coverage of the HRR.  On 
March 7, ANS TV's evening primetime news program led with the 
release of the HRR, carried direct quotes from the report, and the 
initial reaction by the government and human rights activists. 
 
¶7. The other five national TV channels, all pro-government in their 
editorial stance, either ignored the release completely (Space TV) 
or devoted disproportionate airtime to criticism of the report 
(Public Television).  The Lider TV commentator went on to suggest 
that Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry should have launched its own 
investigation into the U.S. human rights record in Iraq, Afghanistan 
and Guantanamo. 
 
HRR TRIGGERS DEMOCRACY DEBATE IN NEWSPAPERS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. On March 8, the influential ZERKALO daily ran an above-the-fold 
article on the HR report with a detailed account of the HR 
violations in Azerbaijan. Entitled "Democracy That Stinks," the 
article noted President Aliyev's recent statement that there will be 
no return to totalitarian rule in Azerbaijan, but that "our 
democracy will reflect our national character."  The author 
ridicules the statement arguing that there can be no semi-democracy, 
just as "women cannot be half-pregnant" and "fresh fish don't 
stink."  President Bush, the article continues, has stated that in 
the U.S., citizens can call the President to account and that any 
decision the President takes must be consistent with the 
Constitution. "Is this the kind of democracy we have here in 
Azerbaijan?  This is question number one", concludes the article in 
the country's top daily newspaper. 
 
¶9. "The Department of State's Report as a Mirror of Azerbaijan's 
Reality" reads the headline of a front-page article in independent 
NOVOYE VREMYA newspaper on March 8.  "The report shows that our 
society is not healthy.  And the US uses it from time to time to put 
pressure on the authorities," wrote the newspaper. 
 
 
THE REPORT NO LONGER IMPORTANT, SAY THINK TANKS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶10. On March 9, independent REALNIY AZERBAIJAN newspaper carried a 
column asking well-known commentators "how the U.S. Human Rights 
Report will affect the reputation of the administration?" 
Independent political commentator Ilgar Mammadov answered that 
critical HR reports were no longer taken seriously by the leadership 
due to the fact that oil profits had made the country rich and 
Azerbaijan's importance for US interests has also been enhanced by 
the ongoing Iranian nuclear problem. "HR reports for [the election 
years of] 2003 and 2005 were more substantial and critical. But even 
those reports have been largely disregarded.  I doubt that the 
report for 2006, which was generally a calm year, will be treated as 
an action guide," Ilgar Mammadov is quoted as saying. 
 
¶11. Another commentator Hikmat Hajizade answered that the report is 
objective and it is clear to Azerbaijanis and the international 
community that the situation with individual and political freedoms 
has deteriorated. "If the President is not indifferent to what the 
West thinks of him, he should feel uncomfortable for being 'loved' 
the way the mercantile girls love their rich bridegrooms.  Money 
can't buy true love, however," he suggested. 
 
 
AMBASSADOR'S UNIVERSITY SPEECH WIDELY COVERED 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶12. The Ambassador's speech on the Human Rights Report at private 
Khazar University and her Q and A session with students and faculty 
members on March 12 also received extensive press coverage.  "The 
year 2006 was not the best for human rights in Azerbaijan," reported 
Turan news agency quoting the Ambassador's speech. Her remarks that 
"journalists were subjected to pressure and attacks and there were 
problems with freedom of assembly," were picked up widely by 
newspapers.  "Much needs to be done in Azerbaijan in the sphere of 
human rights," wrote independent EKHO newspaper on March 13. "The US 
Ambassador noted that Azerbaijan itself has chosen the path to 
democracy and the obligations it has undertaken before the OSCE, COE 
and NATO testify to this," continued the newspaper.  In a March 13 
article, opposition-leaning BAKI KHABAR newspaper wrote that "the 
Ambassador's statement came as a response to those who tried to 
undermine the credibility of the report and accuse its contributors 
of impartiality. "The report is the result of a painstaking and 
thorough investigation... and America stands ready to help 
Azerbaijan to fix the problems mentioned in the report," the 
Ambassador is quoted as saying. 
 
¶13. Presidential adviser Novruz Mammadov responded the next day on 
Public Television.  "I think a diplomatic representative, or an 
ambassador making such a [critical] statement on such an issue 
before TV is beyond the realm of diplomacy.  There are documents, 
like the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, that specify the 
limits of a diplomatic representative's powers," he said when asked 
to comment the Ambassador's speech. 
 
 
EMBASSY OFFICERS HIGHLIGHT THE REPORT ON TV AND RADIO 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶14. The day following the HRR release, Poloff gave a forty-minute 
interview with ANS TV's flagship Point of View program and recorded 
interviews with ANS radio and for the popular HESABAT magazine (also 
owned by ANS).  Separately, PAO gave a 20-minute interview to a live 
talk show on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Azerbaijani Service, 
in which he responded to government criticism of the report and took 
questions from listeners. Both interviews highlighted the major 
areas of concern in the HRR and expressed hope that the report be 
taken constructively and used as a basis for our bilateral efforts 
to advance democratic reform in Azerbaijan. 
US RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH OCCUPATION WELCOMED 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶15. Several media outlets hailed the HRR's language in its mention 
of the Armenian occupation of the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno 
Karabakh and the seven adjoining regions in both the Azerbaijan and 
Armenian reports.  As ZERKALO pointed out on March 8, previous HR 
reports also mentioned the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani 
territories, but had not laid out so clearly the 'scope and the 
contours' of the occupation over the past fifteen years. 
HYLAND