Human Rights Watch doubts holding of free and fair elections in Azerbaijan

Text of report by Azerbaijani news agency Turan

New York, 31st October: "Government interference in the election process in Azerbaijan is reducing the chances of them being conducted in a free and fair way," it says in a statement disseminated on 30th October by the well-known human rights protection organization Human Rights Watch.

The nine-page document devoted to the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan on 5th November describes how the authorities hinder opposition candidates' attempts to run in the elections, and how official Baku is reneging on its own obligations before the Council of Europe.

"The pre-election campaign in Azerbaijan demonstrates that Azerbaijan has a long way to go," Human Rights Watch Executive Director for Europe and Central Asia, Rachelle Denber, said.

The Human Rights Watch representatives in Azerbaijan have registered how the local authorities persecute those collecting signatures for the registration of the opposition candidates.

For example, officials hindered opposition figures so they could not complete the registration process in time. After a candidate submits his documents and is registered, electoral commissions declare that the signatures submitted are falsified. All this is blocking the path for hundreds of independent and opposition candidates to run in the elections.

No groups of local observers are allowed to monitor the forthcoming elections. Several months before the elections the authorities started a persecution campaign against the independent media through the courts, threatening them with closure and were also engaged in persecuting and intimidating journalists.

The Human Rights Watch statement also mentioned a recent statement by the head of the [Azerbaijani] Presidential Executive Staff, Ramiz Mehdiyev, who believes that Azerbaijan does not regard its obligations before the Council of Europe as legal and binding. Mehdiyev also said that attempts to exert pressure should be regarded as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

Source: Turan news agency, Baku, in Russian 1305 gmt 31 Oct 00

BBC Mon TCU 011100 ad/f

Email this article
Posted November 2, 2000 © Eurasianet
http://www.eurasianet.org

	The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Open Society Institute and are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.