Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1992
AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 30, 1991,
at which time the Communist Party First Secretary, Ayaz Mutalibov, Became President
of the Republic. After military defeats in Nagorno-Karabakh, including the
massacre of Azeri civilians in the town of Khojaly, popular protest, organized by the
opposition Azeri Popular Front (APF), forced Mutalibov to resign in March 1992.
Tne old Communist elite, however, held on to control of the Government. On March
23, Acting President Yagub Mamedov scheduled presidential elections for June 7.
It soon became apparent that Abulfez Elchibey, the leader of the APF, would win
free and fair elections. To avoid such an outcome, the old guard returned Mutalibov
to power on May 14 in a parliamentary coup. When Mutalibov suspended the elections
and moved to ban all political activity, the APF organized resistance and took
power in a nearly bloodless countercoup. The APF dissolved the predominantly
Communist Supreme Soviet (legislature) and transferred its functions to the 50-
member upper house, the National Council (Milli Majlis). The APF Government
went ahead with the scheduled presidential elections, and on June 7 Elchibey was
elected in what international observers considered free and fair elections.
The APF Government moved to turn the national security and police apparatus
into those of a democratic state. The national security apparatus, formerly loyal to
Moscow, became less active than previously, and the militia (aside from Interior
Ministry troops) was disbanded in favor of a police force.
Azerbaijan maintained the structure of a command economy, but the "shadow"
economy—still technically illegal—began taking over in many sectors. Disintegration
of the Soviet economy led to economic decline. Unemployment rose to about 28
percent, and living standards fell. Badly needed economic reform and privatization
remained to be implemented. Oil was the key foreign exchange earner, but Azerbaijan
also produced significant quantities of fruit and cotton.
The most important human rights issue in 1992 was the abuse conamitted by both
sides in the conflict between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in and around
Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides took hostages, tortured prisoners, created refugees
and displaced persons, targeted civilian locations, killea civilians, and carried out
summary executions. The most significant single attack on civilians was the massacre
by Armenians of at least 600 Azerbaijani civilians after the fall of Khoialy on
February 25-26. The introduction of more powerful weapons, including missiles and
tactical aircraft, escalated the conflict and increased its destructiveness.
As a result of the conflict, some 18,000 Armenians still in Baku, mostly members
of mixed marriages, lived in fear of official harassment and unofficial persecution,
including dispossession of homes, beatings, and kidnapings.
In aspects unrelated to the conflict, the (jovemment, after the presidential election,
attempted to respect human rights: generally, it respected freedom of speech,
press, and religion and demonstrated a commitment to democratic parliamentary
S>rocesses. Parliamentary elections will be a further important milestone in the efbrt
to achieve a multiparty democratic system.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing.
^No political or other extrajudicial
killings are known to have occurred. See Section l.g. for reports of killings associated
with the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
b. Disappearance.
In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, both sides frequently took
hostages, intending to exchange them for prisoners held by the other side. While
most hostages were taken during raids on villages and other military activities in
Nagorno-Karabakh, several ethnic Armenians were abducted from Beucu and taken
to the front to be exchanged, allegedly with the involvement of the APF militia.
Some of these persons cannot be accounted for and have disappeared. The local
housing authority in Baku allegedly provided information on the whereabouts of Armenians
to those seeking to kidnap them. The Interior Ministry of the new APFled
Government has forbidden local housing authorities to give out information on
residents which might be of use to those wishing to kidnap or harass Armenians.
On January 8, agents of the Interior Ministry allegedly arrested Konstantin
Vaganovich Manvelov and his son, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Manvelov, and took
them to the front to be exchanged. The Foreign Ministry was unable to uncover further
information about the two. On March 23, an unknown group abducted Lev
Vaganovich Ovakov-Leonov, an 84-year-old man, from his Baku apartment. Efforts
to obtain fiirther information on Ovakov-Leonov from the Defense Ministry, Interior
Ministry, and directly at the front failed to produce results.
c. Torture and Other Cruel. Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.—
Vladimir Mamedov, an Armenian, alleged that the militia arrested him on January
28 and tortured him during an 8-day period, accusing him of theft. He said he was
beaten on the head, back, and genitals; his fingers were slammed in a door; and
his head held under water in a toilet. He was released from prison on April 24.
Numerous Armenians or part-Armenians alleged being beaten at the hands of unknown
groups, sometimes acting in the name of the APF. The (Jovemment believed
the perpetrators of these crimes may have come from the over 350,000 refugees and
displaced persons in Azerbaijan, many of whom have been driven out of Armenia,
Nagorno-Karabakh, and nei^boringreeions over the past 4 years.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, orExUe.—Hostage-taking on both sides of the conflict
in Nagorno-Karabakh led to numerous instances of arbitrary arrest and detention.
Baku Armenians reported incidents of arbitrary detention.
Yuri IQiristoforovich Staroverov (Karapetov) and Mikhail Yuriyevidi
Shlyaposhnikov (Karapetov), alleged that they were detained for 3 days by a uniformed
group intending to exchange them for an Azeri-held prisoner in Nagomo-
Karabalui. Two Georgian citizens of Armenian extraction were allegedly detained
briefly when their plane landed in Baku en route to Tbilisi. In Apnl the APF attempted
to exchange 15 Armenians, many of whom were convicted criminals taken
from Baku jsdls, for Azeri civilians taken nostage by Armenian forces.
e. Denied of Fair Public Trial.—The court system of Azerbauan is unchanged fix>m
Soviet rule. There are cUstrict and municipal courts and a Supreme Court which
serves as a court of appeals. The judiciary has been more independent since the collapse
of the Soviet system. For example, the courts have consistently released people
detained or arrested on Interior Minister Hamidov's orders.
Generally, trials are public. Defendants have the right to be present, confront witnesses,
and present evidence. The court appoints an attorney for defendants who do
not have one. Defendants have the ri^ht to appeal, as does the prosecutor. The presumption
of innocence has not been mcorporated into the Criminal Code. Citizens
are no longer arrested and chaiged on political grounds, and there are reportedly
no politicalprisoners.
tiiere were allegations that Ave Armenians, sentenced to death in April for the
1991 murder of three Soviet soldiers and a woman journalist in Nagorno-Karabakh,
did not receive a fair trial. It has been established that the 5 participated in the
fatal attack; however, according to their attorneys, the prosecution never established
that they were responsible for the murders as there were 11 other participants in
the attack. The question as to whether they merited the death penalty is unresolved
and has been appealed to the President. President Elchibey has publicly expressed
his opposition to the death penalty.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
A decree
issued in June, with the purpose of stopping illegal arms stockpiling, permitted
spot searches of automobiles and residences with the procurator's approval. In some
instances, police fired on automobiles that failed to stop and allegedly extorted
money from those persons who did. An opposition leader alleged that some of the
searches were political in motivation, aimed at intimidating his supporters.
The extent to whidi the Soviet surveillance apparatus survives in Azerbaijani
hands is not known. The old KGB is being reoiganized on a national Azerbaijani
basis. The successor organization is the Ministry of National Security. It is widely
believed that some phones are tapped and some mail is read.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts.—
The conflict in Na^mo-Karabakh, created in 1923 as an autonomous oblast
(province) within Azerbaijan, pits the Armenian segment of the population of the
province (77 percent in the 1989 Soviet census) against the Government of Azerbaijan.
The Armenians, with manpower and material and moral support from Armenia,
seek independence and separation from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan sees the dispute
as a question of its territorial integrity and views itself as the victim of external
agjn^ssion.
The current conflict began in early 1988 with the unilateral declaration of independence
of Nagorno-Karabakh and a resolution by the Armenian Parliament declaring
the annexation of the province. In February the Armenians in Nagorno-
Karabakh began demonstrating for attachment to the territory of Armenia and forcing
non-Armenians out of Armenian-controlled parts of the region, including the
capital Stepanakert. Refugee flows and mounting ethnic tensions led to serious mob
violence. Tne first of several pogroms against the roughly 350,000 Armenians resident
in Azerbaijan outside of^Nagomo-Karabakh occurred in Sumgait in February
1988. At the same time, the nearly 200,000 Azeris resident in Armenia had fled or
been expelled from Armenia. In 1991 Soviet troops backed by Azerbayani militia
forcibly deported Armenians from 22 to 24 villages in Nagorno-Karabakh and arrested
hundreds of Armenian men. The operation was conaucted with considerable
violence. In September 1991, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed it an
independent republic. A subsequent referendum boycotted by Azeri residents was
overwhelmingly approved, after which the Azerbaijani Parliament revoked the autonomy
of the province.
The conflict intensifled in 1992 as the Armenians gained control of the entire
province by May and established a land corridor to Armenia, breaking a 3-year-old
Blockade. The Azeri armed forces launched a summer counteroffensive which at
year's end continued. Both sides used excessive, indiscriminate, and deliberate force
against civilians and were responsible for wide-scale hostage-taking, the beating and
torture of hostages, and summary executions.
Both sides have been guilty of attacks on each others' civilians; the most serious
was the Februaiy 25-26 attack by Armenian forces on the Nagorno-Karabakh Azeri
town of Khojaly. According to figures compiled by the International Committee of
the Red Cross, between 600 and 1,000 Azeris—all but 57 of them civilians—were
killed, mostly as they and the Azeri militia interspersed with them attempted to flee
through Armenian-held territory to the Azeri town of Agdfun. Another 175 were
missing, and a similar number were taken hostage.
A number of visitors to Stepanakert, including journalists and members of international
human rights oi;ganizations, reported on the effects of indiscriminate Azeri
shelling. The preconilict population had dwindled from 70,000 to 20,000. Residents
lived in basements as many apartment buildings and clusters of homes, removed
from military targets, were damaged and appear to have been deliberately targeted.
The hospital complex had been destroyed. In the sununer, Azerbaijani forces began
aerial bombardment of Stepanakert. Similar scenes of destruction nave occurred in
Azerba^ani towns subjectea to Armenian artillery barrages.
Each side also attempted to cut off the other's access to food supplies. Azerbaijan
has blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh as a whole and Armenia since 1988, causing widespread
hardship. Armenian forces blockaded Azeri enclaves within Nagorno-
Karabakh, before eliminating them entirely in May. Finally, Armenia has blockaded
the Azerbauani exclave of Nakhchyvan, an autonomous republic separated from the
rest of Azerba^an by Aimenia.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Freedom of speech and press was generally respected,
espjecially after the June elections. The lively Azerbaijani press operated
generally without government restriction. There were perhaps 50 local daUy and
weekly newspapers available in Baku in both Russian and Azeri. Many of these
were the ephemeral organs of political parties, reflecting a wide range of views, both
for and against the Government.
In July the Government began to demand that foreign journalists and news oivanizations
receive permits in order to visit Nagorno-Karabakh and its environs. According
to Azerbayani officials, the measure was aimed at protecting the security
of journalists and to prevent unauthorized disclosure of miUtarily useftil information.
Most visiting foreign journalists have continued to receive permission to visit
the front but under Mimstry of Defense escort.
In September and October, Interior Minister Iskandar Hamidov personally struck
two editors who, he believed, had insulted him in their papers. The entire press condemned
Hamidov, and most dailies published an open letter of protest to President
Elchibey. The President, after receiving a delegation representing the signers, responded
with his own open letter, condenming Hamidov^s actions and vowing to
guarantee Azerbaijan's free press. This was followed, however, by Hamidov's promotion
to a two-star general. The Milli Majlis revised, by one vote, to place the matter
on its agenda for discussion.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Demonstrations brought about
the March downfall of former President MutaUbov and characterized the May
events that led first to his return to power and then to his subsequent ouster 2
weeks later by the APF in a nearly bloodless coup. Since the presidential elections
in June, groups of citizens representing many political views have routinely demonstrated
peacefully outside Parliament and the presidentifd offices. Officials did
not interfere with or demand pennits for the demonstrations. A recent decree on
public association does require groups to register in order to ftinction, but the Government
is not allowed to refuse registration except in cases of known criminal activity.
While the majority of demonstrations took place without government interference.
Interior Ministry forces did break up a Social Democratic Party demonstration on
December 25 and another demonstration on December 31, beating some of those
who attempted to demonstrate.
_ c. Freedom of Religion.—There is no state religion. Most Azerbaijanis are Muslims,
predominantly of the Shi'a sect, but there are significant Russian Orthodox
and Jewish communities as well. All faiths practiced their religions without restrictions
or sanctions, with one exception: Armenian churches, many vandalized in past
years, remained closed, and the few Armenians left in Azerbaijan would not have
felt secure enough to attend them had they been open. Many mosques in Azerbaijan,
closed during Communist antireligious campaigns, were reopened. There is one
Muslim seminary; Christians and Jews must go elsewhere for clerical training. Mus708
lim clerics from Iran and Turkey, Jewish clerics from Israel and the United States,
and Christian clerics from Russia and elsewhere were given full access to the country.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Government did not place seneral restrictions on internal travel
except for zones near the front. Foreign travel was still subject to the Soviet system
of exit permits and passports and required an invitation from abroad in most cases.
The Uovemment officially recognized freedom of emigration and provided written
guarantees to that effect. However, those Armenians and part-Armenians, mostly in
mixed marriages, still remaining in the country reported being refused permission
to leave the country. "Diey allege that the Department of Visas and Registrations
struck them off the rolls of residents and then refused to issue exit visas. According
to some observers, the mere existence of passport checks is enough to deter some
from attempting to leave.
There are some 400,000 ethnic Armenian residents of Azerbaijan who are refugees
in Armenia, Russia, and elsewhere. These people fled the country following anti-Armenian
pogroms in 1988-90. It is unclear if tnese people will be able to return, as
is also tne case for the nearly 200,000 Azeri refugees who fled Armenia to Azerbaijan
during the same period. Both groups of refugees complain that they were
stripped of their possessions, movable and immovable, and received little or no com-
Sensation. An additional 150,000 Azerbaijanis have fled their homes in Nagomo-
[arabakh and elsewhere due to continuing hostilities between Azerba^ani and Armenian
forces.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
Although some progress toward democracy occurred, it remains unclear to what
extent the people of Azerbaijan have the right and ability to change their government
hy peaceflil tmd democratic means. A series of coups and countercoups resulted
in the APF seizing power in May. Afterwards, presidential elections were
held in June, resulting in the election of Abulfaz Elchibey, the chairman of the APF.
The election was internationally monitored, and while one of the candidates alleged
fraud and several complained about the APF's monopoly of television and radio,
international observers fudged it free and fair.
Nonetheless, Azerbaijan's declared goal of creating a secular parliamentary democracy
with an independent judiciaiy as well as cnecks and balances on the respective
branches has been impeded. In 1992 instability created by the conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh remained a severe obstacle to carrying out democratic reforms.
The conflict has entrenched militias, warlords, and black marketeers, who, like the
old Communist apparatus, resist needed change.
The President currently shares power with a 50-member National Council (Milli
Majlis), which was formed in 1991 under the Communist regime, with half of its
members drawn from the opposition and half from the Communists. After the May
15 coup, the APT dissolved the Supreme Soviet, which had been Azerbaijan's parliament
and transferred its fiinctions to the National Council. Political opposition
parties have called for new parliamentary elections as well as a new constitution
at an early date. Both the President and the National Council are at work drafting
a new constitution to replace the Soviet-era document still in force. Elections for a
new parliament are anticipated in 1993.
There were no restrictions on women or minorities participating in politics; however,
parties formed along specifically religious or ethmc lines were banned.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations ofHuman Rights
Local human rights observers are not repressed but they were not ptirticularly active
in 1992. The Government has expressed its willingness to receive delegations
from human rights oreanizations. Several visited Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992. Hi^-
ranking government ofiicials express a willingness to abide by the norms and obligations
m the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international
agreements, but they also admit that it is not easy to enforce this policy
in a society that has been marked by decades of severe human rights abuses.
Section 5. Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
The Government issued several declarations and adopted one law regarding the
ftrotection of minority rights. The presidential decree oi September 16, adopted as
aw by the National Council shortly thereafter, called on ministers to consult leaders
of ethnic groups, take steps to ensure there is no discrimination against minorities
in any field, and provide minorities full cultural and linguistic rights. Government
leaders repeatedly stated their policy that Azerba^an should remain a multiethnic
state, where all ethnic groups, including Armenians, may reside under equal citizenship
rights.
Despite stated government policy, the estimated 18,000 Armenians and part-Armenians
still residing in Baku, most of them menders of mixed marriages, lived in
an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. The Government was unable to guarantee
their safety in the face of anti-Armenian sentiment. Until the APF took over in May,
the Government appeared in some instances to dismiss minority concerns as
overreactions. Harassment and discrimination to which Armenians were subjected
included: the loss or denial of jobs; the canceling of pensions and other benefits; and
the withholding of hetdth care. In addition, the presence in Baku of hundreds of
thousands of Azeri refugees from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh complicated the
situation. These refugees form a core of resentment and opposition to any oflicial
efforts to safeguard the rights of Armenians to live in Baku. Many of them believe
that Armenians have no right to Uve in Azerbaijan as long as Azeris are not permitted
to live in Armenia. There have been threats against Armenians, part-Armenians,
and others in mixed marriages to leave their homes and apartments or face
the consequences. Many have abandoned their homes, others are subjected to breakins
and other forms of harassment. For those who stay on in Baku, their greatest
fear is being taken hostage (see Section l.d.).
WhUe other national minorities are not as threatened, members of the large
russophone population (500,000) report a growing sense that they have no future
in Azerbaijan now that this once cosmopolitan crossroads is becoming increasingly
dominated by Azerbaijani national consciousness.
Women nominally enjoy the same legal rights as men, including the right to participate
in all aspects of political, economic, and social life. In general, women are
riven extensive opportunities for education, work, and political activity. In practice,
the social norms of the Caucasus are influential and tend to keep women in a subordinate
position. For example, there is no restriction on women driving, and many
women possess drivers' licenses, but it is rare to see a woman drive. Women's rights
groups are actively tiying to change these cultural norms.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Azerbaijani labor unions still operate as under the
Soviet system. However, the Azerbaijan Labor Federation has severed its links to
Moscow, and certain unions are the focus of antigovemment political activity and
operate without hindrance or restriction.
The unions, to which all workers belong, are highly dependent upon the Government.
There is a legal right to strike, and increasingly workers are making use of
this right. Unions and workers are not directly the subject of any human rights
abuses. Unions are free to form federations and participate in international homes.
Azerbaijan was admitted to the International Labor Organization in May.
b. The night to Organize and Bargain Collectively.—42o\lective bargaining is at a
rudimentary level; wages are still decreed by relevant government ministries for organizations
within the budget. There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited
by law and is not known to be practiced.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum emplojncnent age is
16. Children of 14 are allowed to work during vacations with the consent of meir
{)arents and certification of a physician. Children of 15 may work if the workplace's
abor union does not object.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is a nationwide administrative minimum
wage set by government decree. The minimum was raised several times in 1992 as
the ruble coflapsed. It is not known how effectively the minimum wage was enforced.
The minimum wage does not provide a decent living for a worker and family.
However, the extended family structure's "safety net" and reliance on outside
sources of income generally ensure a decent living. The le^al workweek is 41 hours.
Health and safety standards exist but are by and large ignored at the workplace.
