Fundamental freedoms under threat in Azerbaijan
Both online and offline freedoms are being curtailed by the authorities, say new reports in run-up to internet conference
The Azerbaijani authorities have taken steps to curtail the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association in the country in recent years, according to the report, The Right to Remain Silent, published by the IMS-supported Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS).
This has taken place particularly in connection with two major international events held in Baku in 2012, namely the Eurovision Song Contest in May, and the Internet Governance Forum in November.
– The report’s findings are a cause for serious concern. It shows systematic repression by the authorities, which seems determined to silence all critical voices in the country, says IRFS Chairman Emin Huseynov.
The report explores violence against journalists, detention of media workers and human rights defenders, and state control of the media.
Bloggers and online journalists targeted
The state of freedom of expression online is also being explored as Azerbaijan hosts this year’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a major international conference on internet governance.
Of particular concern is the targeting of individuals, who take to the Internet to voice critical opinions, says Searching for Freedom: Online Expression in Azerbaijan, published by the Expression Online Initiative, a consortium of Azerbaijani freedom of expression organisations.
Five journalists, bloggers and activists are currently in detention or prison in connection with exercising their right to freedom of expression online, and another faces jail time on similar politically motivated charges, says the report.
Imprisonment, beatings and harassment should never be used to silence critical voices, said OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic in connection with the launch of the Internet freedom report.
– Anyone who uses the Internet in Azerbaijan – and that’s pretty much all of us – should be concerned by the authorities’ actions to limit freedom of expression online, said Emin Huseynov of IRFS:
– In an environment where freedom of expression is particularly repressed via the more traditional forms of media, it is monumentally important to protect this last remaining largely free space.
The Right to Remain Silent and Searching for Freedom: Online Expression in Azerbaijan are published in in the run-up to the 7th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) taking place in the Azerbaijani capital Baku from 6-9 November.
