Human Rights Watch issued a 2013 report accusing Azerbaijan of imprisoning and harassing political activists and human rights defenders.[1][2][3] In 2019, Human Rights Watch called the situation of human rights in Azerbaijan "appalling",[4] citing "rigid control" by the government, "severely curtailing freedoms of association, expression, and assembly", as well as "torture and ill-treatment" of journalists, lawyers, and opposition activists.[5] According to Reporters without Borders, Azerbaijan ranks 167 of 180 countries on the Press Freedom Index.[6] A 2020 report by the U.S. State Department accused Azerbaijan of a wide variety of human rights abuses, including "unlawful or arbitrary killing", "heavy restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet", and "the worst forms of child labor".[7] A 2022 human rights review of Azerbaijan by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found that during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabagh Conflict, the Azerbaijani military committed "severe and grave human rights violations ... against prisoners of war and other protected persons of Armenian ethnic or national origin, including extrajudicial killings, torture and other ill-treatment and arbitrary detention as well as the destruction of houses, schools, and other civilian facilities".[8]
On 28 December 2001, the National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted the Constitutional Law on the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and on 5 March 2002, the President signed a Decree on the application of this Law thus creation and functioning of the legal framework for the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan.[9]
In the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, hate speech against Armenians "continues to be a staple of officially sanctioned media" according to Minority Rights Group International,[11] while "peace-building initiatives involving civil society actors are regularly vilified and sometimes result in physical assaults on the property and persons of those involved".
The Lezgin people face discrimination and "feel forced to assimilate into Azeri identity to avoid economic and education discrimination".[12]
Talysh people have "suffered as a result of the long-term deprivation of cultural and educational rights and from the effects of economic neglect of their region". In the aftermath of the Talysh separatist movement and the attempt to establish the Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic the Azerbaijani state "mounted a campaign of intimidation and repression against leading Talysh activists".[13]
Freedom of religion in Azerbaijan is substantially curtailed.[14][15] The Azerbaijan government, which follows a strictly secular and anti-religious ideology, represses all religions.[14]
The majority of the population in Azerbaijan is Muslim. According to Michigan State University political scientist Ani Sarkissian, "the Azerbaijani government attempts to control religious practice to keep it from becoming an independent social force that might threaten the nondemocratic nature of the regime."[14]
The government censors religious literature and closes down religious institutions that it considers objectionable.[14] Political speech by religious institutions is forbidden and clerics are not allowed to run for political office.[14]
The government uses mosque closures to repress independent Muslim groups that act independently of the state.[14] Clerics that act in ways objectionable to the state face dismissal and arrest.[14] The government does not restrict religious conversion, but it does forbid proselytizing.[14]
One of the initial international documents in the human rights field was the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between the Government of Azerbaijan and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on 26 November 1998.[16]
The Council of Europe admitted Azerbaijan to the full-membership on 25 January 2001.[17] Azerbaijan ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) on 15 April 2002.[18] Since the ratification, everyone who claims to be the victim of a violation of his/(her) rights or liberties defined by ECHR as a result of the activity or inactivity of the Republic of Azerbaijan has right to sue against Azerbaijan before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).[19]As of 2021[update], Azerbaijan has the lowest rate of compliance of any Council of Europe member state with implementing leading judgements of the ECtHR from the last 10 years. Leading judgements are a subset of cases involving serious or systemic human rights violations and only 4% of such cases against Azerbaijan led to a rectification of the underlying human rights violation. Overall 47 leading ECtHR judgments against Azerbaijan have not been implemented.[20][21]
Several independent bodies, such as Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly criticized the Azerbaijani government for its human rights record.[22][23][24][1] Among other concerns, authorities have been accused of arbitrary arrests,[25]indefinite detentions,[25]severe beatings,[26]torture,[26] and forced disappearances.[27] Despite the existence of independent news outlets, journalists who criticize the government are often severely harassed, imprisoned, and even physically assaulted.[28] In the 2013-14 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Azerbaijan ranked 160th out of an overall total of 180 nations.[29] The Government has often been criticized for failing to improve the situation of civil liberties.[30][31] Public demonstrations against the ruling regime are not tolerated, and authorities often use violence to disperse protests.[32]
Electoral rights
Azerbaijan was the first country in the East that provided women with the right to vote. According to the Law passed in the parliament, on 21 July 1919, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) all citizens of the Republic who had reached the age of 20 were granted voting rights before the UK (1928), Spain, and Portugal (1931).[33]
All citizens of Azerbaijan have the right to elect and be elected, and to participate in referendums.[34] The Parliament of Azerbaijan adopted the Electoral Code on 27 May 2003.[35] Although Azerbaijan is nominally a secular and representative democracy, recent elections there have widely been contested as fraudulent and 'seriously flawed. Azerbaijani media coverage of the election is considered to be overwhelmingly biased in favor of the administration.[36] Also, former president Heidar Aliyev, is known to have filled the Central and Local electoral commissions with government supporters prior to various key elections since 2003.[37] Irregular incidents such as voting chiefs running off with the ballots, ballot stuffing, multiple voting, and vote tampering were recorded by international monitors.[citation needed]
Azerbaijan has been harshly criticized for bribing members and officials from international organizations to legitimize the fraudulent elections, a practice which has been termed as "caviar diplomacy".[38][39][40][41] Recently this has been the case with MEPs of the European Parliament, whose positive assessment of Azerbaijani elections sparked a major scandal in Europe.[42][43][44][45]European Stability Initiative (ESI) think tank has published a series of detailed reports exposing the vested interest of the observation missions participating in Azerbaijani elections.[46][47][48]
Freedom of assembly and expression of political beliefs
Up until May 2005, there was no legal protection for freedom of assembly in Azerbaijan.[citation needed][49] The blanket ban on opposition gatherings was lifted by presidential decree after national pressure, but events leading up to parliamentary elections later that year proved this to be merely a nominal change for a very short time. The authorities denied opposition supporters the right to demonstrate or hold rallies in or near any city centers and special places were designated for this purpose. Those attending opposition rallies that had not been sanctioned by the government were beaten and arrested. Police were known to detain opposition activists, in an attempt to 'convince' them into giving up their political work. Youth movement members and opposition members were detained for conspiring to overthrow the government, a charge that has not been substantiated. After the elections, not a single opposition rally was allowed.[50]
According to the Human Rights Watch 2013 report, "Azerbaijan’s record on freedom of expression, assembly, and the association has been on a steady decline for some years, but it has seen a dramatic deterioration since mid-2012".[1] In April 2014 RPT-European human rights organization reported that human rights, particularly freedom of expression, assembly and association, are deteriorating in Azerbaijan.[51]
In a screed delivered on 15 July 2020, the day after a pro-military rally in Baku, President Aliyev targeted the largest opposition party, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan. He declared that "we need to finish with the 'fifth column'" and the Popular Front is "worse than the Armenians." Azerbaijani security services began arresting party members and others. According to Azerbaijani sources as many as 120 people are currently held in jail, including some deputy leaders of the party as well as journalists. On 20 July the U.S. State Department urged Azerbaijan to avoid using the pandemic to silence "civil society advocacy, opposition voices, or public discussion."[52] These actions are widely seen as an attempt "to eliminate pro-democracy advocates and political rivals once and for all".[53] The Amnesty International also urged to end the "violent persecution of opposition activists".[54]
Right to liberty and security
International pressure has been exerted on Azerbaijan to release its number of political prisoners. Since joining the Council of Europe, the Azerbaijani Government have released one hundred political prisoners, but many remain in custody, and opposition supporters continue to be detained without proof of wrongdoing.[55][56] According to the pardon order signed by Ilham Aliyev, 51 prisoners considered as political prisoners by international human rights groups were released on 16 March 2019.[57][58]
Later on in 2013, seven young activists, including four board members, of Nida Civic Movement were kidnapped and arrested after the protests held against the non-combat military deaths in March and April in Baku.[67][68][69] They are charged with preparing the riots during the protests in Baku. Initially, the young people were charged with illegal possession of weapons and drugs.[70] As reported by International human rights organization Amnesty International, some of the eight activists of NIDA, who were arrested on false charges (including 17-year-old Shahin Novruzlu), were tortured. Amnesty International recognized all the arrested young men as prisoners of conscience.[71] However, in 2014, four of them, and in 2016, other four members of NIDA have been released by a presidential order. Amnesty International welcomed that development.[72] Next 4 members of NIDA were among the prisoners pardoned by the presidential order dated 16 March 2019 which was welcomed by European External Action Service.[73][58][74]
Azerbaijan is ranked 'Not Free' by Freedom House in its annual Freedom of the Press survey with a score of 79 out of 100.[75] The authorities use a range of measures to restrict the freedom of the media within the country. Opposition and independent media outlets and journalists have their access to print-houses and distribution networks limited, or can find themselves facing defamation charges and crippling fines and are subject to intimidation tactics, including imprisonment on fabricated charges.[76]
Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government and under strict government control. According to a 2012 report of the NGO "Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS)" Azerbaijani citizens are unable to access objective and reliable news on human rights issues relevant to Azerbaijan and the population is under-informed about matters of public interest.[36]
Azerbaijani authorities have imprisoned several notable journalists. They jailed Mehman Aliyev, the director of an independent media outlet. Aliyev is the director of the Turan news agency. "On August 25, 2017, a court in Baku placed Aliyev in pretrial detention for three months during the investigation against him."[77] However, 16 days later- on 11 September 2017, Baku Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the court of the first instance and released Mr. Aliyev. Several international institutions such as European Federation of Journalists welcomed release of Mr Aliyev.[78]
The Committee to Protect Journalists has stated the charges against many journalists are "fabricated" and "politicized".[79] At the end of 2014, eight journalists remained behind bars.[80] International instances such as the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe have consistently refuted the justifications by the Azerbaijani authorities that jailed journalists had been prosecuted and sentenced for common crimes.[81] Prison conditions for journalists are reported as dire, with routine ill-treatment and denial of medical care.[80]
According to RFE/RL, Azerbaijan's government "has a long history of using its criminal justice system to silence political rivals and journalists who criticize the corruption that has enriched Aliyev's relatives and inner circle of allies". Aliyev's authoritarian rule has shut down independent media outlets and suppressed opposition parties while holding elections deemed neither free nor fair by international monitoring groups. Baku has also banned international monitors from groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International "that have documented how authorities routinely use torture to extract false confessions from political prisoners jailed on trumped-up charges".[53]
Some measures have been taken against corruption in recent years.[85][86] Issues of corruption in public service delivery were one of the problematic areas within the public sector. To eliminate corruption in public service delivery, a new preventive institution, namely, the Azerbaijan service assessment network (ASAN) (asan means "easy" in the Azerbaijani) was established by Presidential Decree in 2012.[87] Currently, this institution provides 34 services for 10 state bodies. It was the first one-stop-shop service delivery model in the world to provide the services of various state bodies rather than only the services of one state body.
Azerbaijan has signed the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (Istanbul Action Plan, or IAP) which covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan and the other ACN countries in 2003.[88] The Implementation of the plan includes regular and systematic peer review of the legal and institutional framework for fighting corruption in the covered countries by the signing parties. Since then, Azerbaijan has actively taken part in the monitoring rounds. For the records of reports and updates see.[89]
According to Human Rights Watch, beginning in 2008, as part of the urban renewal campaign in Baku, thousands of homeowners were evicted from their houses in many parts of the city to make way for parks, business centers, and elite residential areas. The process was engineered by the Mayoralty of Baku and was often carried out without proper warning. The compensations offered were well below the market value. The residents also felt they had few options to win a case in court if they filed a lawsuit. In some cases, demolitions continued regardless of court orders prohibition to do so.[90] Forced evictions worsened in 2011 after Azerbaijan won the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, and with it, the right to host the 2012 one. These evictions angered many people and were well exposed in the press after hundreds were evicted for Crystal Hall to be built.
Like in most other post-Soviet states, LGBT people face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While same-sex sexual activity has been legal since the repeal of Soviet-era anti-sodomy laws in 2000,[91] Azerbaijan has no laws explicitly protecting LGBT people, and social acceptance of LGBT people remains low. Human rights organization ILGA-Europe has ranked Azerbaijan as the worst state in Europe for LGBT rights protection each year since 2015.[92]
Labour rights in Azerbaijan are substantially constrained. Labor rights activists face repression in Azerbaijan.[93][94] Azerbaijani law nominally allows the formation of labor unions and the right to strike, but in practice, most unions collaborate with the authoritarian regime, many categories of workers are prohibited from striking, and most major industries are dominated by state-owned enterprises where the government sets working conditions.[95]
According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Azerbaijan has made "minimal advancement" in child labor protection and that "children in Azerbaijan are subjected to the worst forms of child labor",[96]
In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Azerbaijan ruled against the government of Azerbaijan for failing to conduct an effective investigation into credible complaints of forced labor and human trafficking.[97] In the case that the ECHR ruled on, the company that engaged in forced labor and human trafficking appeared to be owned by the wife of Azerbaijan minister Azad Rahimov.[93] Credible complaints had been brought to senior government officials and agencies, yet they dismissed the complaints and refused to investigate them.[93]
International reports
On 12 May 2011, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Azerbaijani "human rights violations" and "oppression of opposition forces".[98] The resolution mentioned concern for Eynulla Fatullayev, Jabbar Savalan, and other prisoners by name, as well as general concern for the "increasing number of incidents of harassment, attacks and violence against civil society and social network activists and journalists in Azerbaijan". Nevertheless, the European Parliament appreciated the release of two bloggers and the creation of the new subcommittees of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Committee in the areas of justice, human rights and democracy, and delivered its thanks to Azerbaijan for the contributions to the Eastern Partnership.[98]
In August 2017, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published its mission report to Azerbaijan. At the invitation of the Government, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Azerbaijan from 16 to 25 May 2016.[99]
In August 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination highlighted human rights abuses committed by Azerbaijani military personnel against people of Armenian ethnic origin during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabagh Conflict. The Committee expressed deep concern regarding "severe and grave human rights violations committed during 2020 hostilities and beyond by the Azerbaijani military forces against prisoners of war and other protected persons of Armenian ethnic or national origin, including extrajudicial killings, torture and other ill-treatment and arbitrary detention as well as the destruction of houses, schools, and other civilian facilities".[8]
Situation in Nakhchivan
Human rights are considered exceptionally poor in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, dubbed "Azerbaijan's North Korea" by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2007.[100] Nakhchivan is an autonomous republic, formerly under the governorship of Vasif Talibov for over 17 years before his resignation in 2022. Concerns have been raised regarding police brutality, impunity, extensive limitations on civil liberties, and corruption.[101][102][103]
Nakhchivan has been described as a "laboratory of repression" in which repressive methods are tested and are then applied on a large scale in the rest of Azerbaijan.[104]
Historical situation
The following chart shows Azerbaijan's ratings since 1991 in the Freedom in the World reports, published annually by Freedom House. A rating of 1 is "free"; 7, "not free".[105]1
1.^Note that the "Year" signifies the "Year covered". Therefore the information for the year marked 2008 is from the report published in 2009, and so on.
Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is the vice president and First Lady of Azerbaijan.
Human rights in Georgia are guaranteed by the country's constitution. There is an independent human rights Public Defender of Georgia elected by the parliament to ensure such rights are enforced. However, it has been alleged by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United States Department of State and the Georgian opposition that these rights are often breached.
Eynulla Emin oglu Fatullayev is an Azerbaijani journalist and the founder and editor-in-chief of the news website Haqqin.az. He was the editor-in-chief of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani-language daily Gündəlik Azərbaycan newspapers. He was imprisoned for four years in Azerbaijan for his criticism of government's policies and for his comments on the Khojaly massacre. His sentence was condemned by Reporters Without Borders, International PEN, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience and 2011 "priority case."
Alikram Hummatov or Ali Akram Hummatzade was an Azerbaijani Talysh military commander and political activist. He was the president of the self-proclaimed Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic in 1993 and was imprisoned in Azerbaijan. He was considered as a political prisoner by international organizations including Amnesty International and the Council of Europe. After demands from the Council of Europe, Hummatov was granted retrials, yet according to Human Rights Watch report, the authorities conducted him inside prisons, and with procedural violations. He was pardoned in 2004 and stripped of his Azerbaijani citizenship; he lived in exile in the Netherlands.
Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev is an Azerbaijani politician who is the fourth and current president of Azerbaijan. The son and second child of former Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev, Aliyev became the country's president on 31 October 2003, after a two-month term as prime minister of Azerbaijan, through a presidential election defined by irregularities shortly before his father's death. He was reelected for a second term in 2008 and was allowed to run in elections indefinitely in 2013, 2018 and 2024 due to the 2009 constitutional referendum, which removed term limits for presidents. Throughout his electoral campaign, Aliyev was a member of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, which he has headed since 2005.
Emin Milli is an Azerbaijani human rights activist who lives in exile in Germany. He is also managing director at Meydan TV.
The 2011 Azerbaijani protests were a series of demonstrations held to protest the government of President Ilham Aliyev. Common themes espoused by demonstrators, many of whom were affiliated with Müsavat and the Popular Front Party, the main opposition parties in Azerbaijan, included doubts as to the legitimacy of the 2008 presidential election, desire for the release of political prisoners, calls for democratic reforms, and demands that Aliyev and his government resign from power. Azerbaijani authorities responded with a security crackdown, dispersing protests and curtailing attempts to gather with force and numerous arrests.
Jabbar Savalan is an Azerbaijani blogger and political activist. On 4 May 2011, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison on charges of dealing drugs. The Azerbaijani government defended the ruling, but the European Parliament and several human rights groups such as Amnesty International alleged the charges were fabricated and part of a pattern of framing government dissidents to silence them. He received a presidential pardon on 26 December 2011.
Idrak Abbasov is an Azerbaijani journalist who works for the newspaper Zerkalo, one of Azerbaijan's few newspapers not controlled by the government of President Ilham Aliyev. The Guardian described him as one of the nation's "leading journalists". He lives in Sulutəpə, a settlement in Baku, the nation's capital. Known for his reporting on forced evictions in Baku, Abbasov was badly beaten in 2012, allegedly by SOCAR security personnel.
Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 9 October 2013. The result was a victory for incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, who received a reported 85% of the vote, whilst leading opposition candidate Jamil Hasanli finished second with a reported 6% of the vote.
Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova, alternatively spelled Ismailova, is an Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, until recently as the host of the daily debate show İşdən Sonra. She is a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
Most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, which is unswervingly pro-government and under strict government control. According to a 2012 report of the NGO "Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS)" Azerbaijani citizens are unable to access objective and reliable news on human rights issues relevant to Azerbaijan and the population is under-informed about matters of public interest.
Leyla Islam qizi Yunusova, better known as Leyla Yunus, is an Azerbaijani human rights activist who serves as the director of Institute of Peace and Democracy, a human rights organisation. She is particularly known for her work helping citizens affected by forced evictions in Baku, on whose behalf she organized several small protests.
Rasul Jafarov is a lawyer and prominent human rights defender in Azerbaijan.
Intiqam Kamil oglu Aliyev is an Azerbaijani lawyer and human rights activist.
Arif Seyfulla oghlu Yunusov, also known as Arif Yunus, is an Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. He is the head of the Department of Conflict and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy. Arif Yunusov along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunusov and his wife Leyla were jailed on charges of extortion and treason for allegedly spying for Armenia. After being detained, Arif Yunusov was sentenced to 7 years in jail; his wife, Leyla Yunus, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail. Their sentences were suspended 15 months later and the couple was allowed to leave for the Netherlands.
Rasim Aliyev was a journalist and human rights activist in Azerbaijan. He was a member of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS). After a football match between a Cypriot and an Azerbaijani football club, Aliyev criticized national player Javid Huseynov for being "ill-bred". Aliyev was later lured to a meeting with someone claiming to be a relative of Huseynov seeking reconciliation, where he was brutally beaten by several assailants. Aliyev died in hospital the following day, a week shy of his 31st birthday.
Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive gifts presented as "a tribute to the Eastern tradition."
Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe, an international organization that focuses on strengthening democracy and human rights, since 2001. As a member, it has attracted attention for holding political prisoners, low implementation of verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and bribing Council of Europe parliamentarians to suppress negative information about its human rights record. In 2017, the Committee of Ministers launched the first ever infringement proceeding against Azerbaijan after it refused to release opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov after a 2014 ECtHR verdict that his imprisonment was unlawful. There has also been criticism of Azerbaijan's continued membership by those who believe its lack of human rights protection undermines the credibility of the Council of Europe.
Gozal Bayramli, also translated as Gozel Bayramli, was a politician of Azerbaijan, member and deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) and a former political prisoner.
↑ Walker, Shaun (6 March 2007), "Azerbaijan warms up for Eurovision by torturing musicians", The Independent, retrieved 5 August 2012, During the year there were at least two reports of politically motivated kidnappings. On 6 March unknown assailants kidnapped opposition newspaper journalist Fikret Huseynli and on 30 September the father of Eynulla Fatullayev, founder of Azerbaijan's most widely read weekly newsmagazine.
↑ Azerbaijan: Media Freedoms in Grave Danger, Human Rights Watch, 3 May 2012, archived from the original on 3 August 2012, retrieved 6 August 2012, ...independent and opposition journalists in Azerbaijan are frequently subject to harassment, intimidation, and physical attacks.
↑ Abbasov, Shahin (2 December 2010), "Azerbaijan: WikiLeaks Cable Compares Ilham Aliyev to Movie Mafia Bosses", EurasiaNet, archived from the original on 8 July 2012, retrieved 5 August 2012, His domestic policies... particularly on the 2009 imprisonment of bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade... increasingly authoritarian and hostile to diversity of political views.
↑ Bunce, Valerie J.; Wolchik, Sharon L. (30 June 2011), "They Took Everything from Me" - Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions in Azerbaijan's Capital, Cambridge University Press; 1 edition, p.184, ISBN978-1-107-00685-0, retrieved 7 August 2012, Opposition leaders… abided by these restrictions when they organized peaceful protests outside of Baku shortly after the November 2005 elections, which drew 20,000 and later 30,000 people. However, participants in authorized demonstrations also suffered intimidation and, on occasion, beatings and detention, as on 26 November 2005, when Lala Shovket and Ali Karimli called on citizens at an approved time period. This demonstration was brutally repressed by the police, and numerous demonstrators were injured.
↑ Azerbaijan Country Profile, Business Anti-Corruption Portal, December 2010, archived from the original on 7 March 2012, retrieved 6 August 2012, It is widely recognised that corruption is deeply entrenched and institutionalised throughout Azerbaijani society and poses an obstacle to both social and economic development in the country.
↑ Gregor Peter Schmitz (13 December 2010), "'Boys and Their Toys' - The US Befriends Azerbaijan's Corrupt Elite", Der Spiegel, archived from the original on 27 July 2012, retrieved 6 August 2012, While a few Azerbaijani clans are getting richer and richer, thanks to all the dollars pouring into the country, the rest of the population is barely scraping by. Over 40 percent of the country's inhabitants are living in poverty; the average monthly income is just €24. As Lala Shevkat, the leader of the Liberal Party of Azerbaijan, says: 'Oil is our tragedy.'
↑ Andrew Higgins (5 March 2010), "Pricey real estate deals in Dubai raise questions about Azerbaijan's president", The Washington Post, archived from the original on 14 November 2012, retrieved 5 August 2012, In just two-week... an 11-year-old boy from Azerbaijan became the owner of nine waterfront mansions... [valued at] about $44 million... the son of Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev... [whose] annual salary as president is the equivalent of $228,000, far short of what is needed to buy even the smallest Palm property.
↑ "Anti-corruption policy in Azerbaijan"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 August 2017. Azerbaijan has made progress in preventing corruption in several sectors, such as public services delivery, traffic police and public education. Reforms have started in customs and business licensing. However, serious and complex corruption challenges have yet to be tackled. Addressing the corruption-prone areas requires stronger political will, efforts, and a healthy environment for broad stakeholder participation in the fight against corruption.
↑ "Anti-corruption policy in Azerbaijan"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 August 2017. Awareness of various forms of corruption and public trust towards selected institutions increased in Azerbaijan since the previous monitoring. ACD in cooperation with the Commission on Combating Corruption (CCC) has engaged in awareness-raising activities. Azerbaijan is encouraged to use a systematic and targeted approach to anti-corruption awareness, plan measures for the corruption-prone sectors, adapt the activities to various target groups and allocate budget for implementation of the measures foreseen by the Action Plan.
↑ "Anti-Corruption Reforms in AZERBAIJAN"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 August 2017. The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (Istanbul Action Plan, or IAP) was endorsed in 2003. It is the main sub-regional initiative in the framework of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN). The Istanbul Action Plan covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan; the other ACN countries participate in its implementation.
↑ Aliyev, Kenan (8 July 2008). "Jailed For Not Paying A Bribe". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
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