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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