Top official: U.S. State Department’s subjective report on Azerbaijan regrettable

Swift development and rise of Azerbaijan’s international authority in recent years have contributed to the further increase of the world attention to it, Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration’s Social and Political Department Ali Hasanov told Trend on Monday. He was commenting on an annual report of the U.S. State Department about the human rights situation in the world, which reflected some critical milestones about Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan cooperates with international organizations, individual countries in bilateral and multilateral formats very successfully, and it is distinguished by its activities in forming global and regional policy and determining the political agenda. Azerbaijani authorities pursue independent foreign policy based on the interests of our people and are distinguished by their position in the international arena,” Hasanov said.
As for the report of the U.S. Department of State, the United States is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan, he said. “The relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan have three main directions. These are the issues of energy, security and democracy. Therefore, we normally think of the fact that the State Department’s report pays attention to the situation with democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan. However, the subjective nature of the report, the lack of information sources in it, distortion of some facts, and most importantly, ignoring Azerbaijani authorities’ position on different issues, in general, gives every reason to question the objectivity of this document,” Hasanov said.
He said ensuring the freedom of expression and information, independence of media in Azerbaijan is one of the state policy priorities.
Azerbaijani top official expressed regret that the report highlights some negative things characteristic for any country, and in many cases – distortion of information based on which it is attempted to form an overall opinion. “For example, it is asserted that newspaper circulation in Azerbaijan rarely exceeds 5,000 copies. Though daily circulation of Yeni Musavat, Azerbaijan, Zerkalo and several other newspapers exceeds 10,000 copies. I would like to bring to the attention of the authors of this report that there is no discrimination in advertising, and it cannot be. One should admit that limitedness of advertising market in Azerbaijan is a serious problem hindering the development of media, particularly the press, and we are currently engaged in addressing it,” Hasanov said.
Like the freedom of expression and information, the right of citizens to defend their rights in accordance with the law is also one of the important elements of democratic development, he said. “In 2009, on the Azerbaijani President’s recommendation a moratorium was imposed to bringing journalists to criminal liability for defamation cases. Disputes between citizens and the media are resolved by administrative means in courts. If the press disseminates false and slanderous information about citizens and blackmails them, then, appealing to the court to protect their rights is the constitutionally guaranteed right of every citizen. Politicizing the decisions made by the courts on such cases and presenting it as a mean of pressure on independent media in the country are nothing else than a biased approach to this matter.
I would also like to add that now Azerbaijan closely cooperates with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in connection with the adoption of the law “On Defamation”. The attempts taken in the report to cast a shadow on the situation with the Internet in Azerbaijan in no case can be taken seriously. In general, information and communication technologies in Azerbaijan are one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. In a new report of the World Economic Forum on the Development of Information Technologies Azerbaijan improved its ranking in 2012 and climbed from 61st to 56th place. Azerbaijan has retained its leading position among the CIS countries and in the region in this regard. According to recent data, 70 percent of the population in Azerbaijan are Internet users. Today, the number of Facebook users in Azerbaijan has already exceeded one million. There are about 300 active Internet resources of political, economic and social purposes, nearly 20 Internet TV, as well as more than 30 Internet radio channels. Therefore, any claims about the situation and prospects of development of the Internet in Azerbaijan are subjective and cannot be taken seriously,” Hasanov underscored.
According to Hasanov, the Constitution and laws of Azerbaijan guarantee the right of citizens to freedom of assembly. “But the right to freedom of assembly should not lead to a breach of others’ peace, social stability, free traffic movement, etc. To this end, both the Executive Power of Baku and executive structures in the regions have allocated appropriate places to hold actions,” Hasanov said.
Speaking about the freedom of assembly, he drew a particular attention to the following milestone. “If those external circles that today make remarks about Azerbaijan, first look at the events taking place in their country, then they would be more sincere. In 2011, a wave of protests hit the British cities, thousands of people were detained, access to social networks was limited and independent bloggers were convicted. Worldwide antiglobalist protests are dispersed by violent methods. Last year the “Occupy Wall Street” protest action in New York City, protest of miners in the German city of Hamburg because of the social problems were violently suppressed. Today it has become a common practice to use water cannons, rubber bullets and other similar means against peaceful demonstrators, who express their protest in connection with the financial and economic crisis hitting Europe. Unfair remarks on Azerbaijan by those who turn a blind eye to the restriction of the freedom of assembly of citizens in the United States and Europe cannot be taken sincerely,” Hasanov said.
U.S. State Department report also touched upon the issue of property rights in Azerbaijan. According to Ali Hasanov, the main objective of social policy pursued by the Azerbaijani President is to ensure worthy living conditions for citizens and improving their welfare.
Also the annual report of the U.S. State Department on the human rights situation in the world expresses concern about the situation in the Azerbaijani army.
“Today, the Azerbaijani Army is the most powerful in the South Caucasus for its technical equipment, provision with arms and ammunition, discipline and combat efficiency,” Hasanov said.
“In recent years, the Azerbaijani President attaches great importance to the development of the National Army. Budget of our Armed Forces exceeds the state budget of Armenia. One can say with certainty that our National Army is able to restore its territorial integrity and to protect the country’s sovereignty. This factor is a concern of the Armenian lobby, its accomplices and political circles under the influence of Armenians. And this factor is one of the main reasons for a thorough updating of topics related to the Azerbaijani army,” Hasanov said.
Azerbaijan is in a state of war with Armenia, he said. “Our Armed Forces adequately fulfil its mission in a constant state of high alert. Unfortunately, we face facts of soldier death not only in military operations, but sometimes in the period of peace.
The report of the U.S. State Department stresses the dependence of court system in Azerbaijan on the executive power, also notes rise of torture against citizens in prisons and places of detention. According to Hasanov, in the years of independence, Azerbaijan has taken consecutive measures and systemic reforms to improve the justice system and bring it in line with modern standards.
The document of the U.S. State Department also asserts that the amendments made to the Azerbaijani laws create limitations for the independent activity of NGOs. Azerbaijani top official called it as a subjective approach. “In Azerbaijan, citizens’ initiatives are supported at the state level, a wide arena is provided for these initiatives, and funds are allocated from state budget for their realization. Today, NGOs and public recommendations are used in the activities of all the central bodies of executive power and public opinion is taken into account when decisions are made. Additions and amendments to the Law “On Non-Governmental Organizations” intend to ensure transparency in this area,” Hasanov said. As for the growth of “political prisoners “in the country, which was also mentioned in the report of the U.S. State Department, the “reports” of NGOs, which have sent this information to them, reflected very contradictory figures, Hasanov believes.
“Some “human rights activists” are engaged in “production of political prisoners” in Azerbaijan. This became an area of their business. Unfortunately, referring to such “reports” and unfounded information some authoritative agencies, try to misrepresent deliberately the human rights and freedoms situation in Azerbaijan. I believe that an objective response of sane MPs in the Council of Europe in early this year, to Christopher Strasser’s report on “political prisoners” put an end to speculations on this matter,” he said.