Attacks against NGO sector were forthcoming. This campaign is a content of the isolation policy conducted by the Government against civil society. At first the Government took such measures against political parties by depriving them from financial resources, moving them from their offices, not allowing to the elections, arresting and persecuting the members, and this way it achieved to establish a political system without opposition.
Mass media was the next target group after the political parties. Fines which are ten, hundred times more than the salaries, budgets of the independent mass media and journalists, arrest of the opposition mass media representatives for a long time based on groundless accusation, deprivation of the independent mass media from commercial market, not presenting license to the televisions, or cancellation of the already presented licenses, etc. All these made the mass media to become dependent on the Government.
Today all television channels are under the control of the Government; they propagate its policy. There were very few newspapers which could protect their independence. Nevertheless, due to the very limited recourses and small circulation their ability to influence the public opinion is very low.
For a long time, Azerbaijan Government pretended to support the NGOs. But recently it began to weaken independent NGOs, humiliate them by using its resources. The softening policy began after four judgments of the European Court on freedom of assembly were changed and a moratorium was imposed on the registration of the NGOs.
A lot of NGO’s were established by the state bodies, high ranking officials. The aim of these NGO is to sink the NGOs acting in the sphere of education, human rights, and etc. The Government registers these NGOs, provides them with offices, modern equipment, pays high salary to the employees; high ranking officials, judges, and employees of the law enforcement bodies attend the events organized by them, while the events, projects fulfilled by the independent NGOs and international organizations cooperating with them (OSCE, European Council and others) are boycotted.
Despite the pressure and the state’s attempts to establishing totalitarian regime, independent NGOs still exsit in the country. They act very effectively in the sphere of coruption, elections, human trafficing, and etc. They conduct monitoring of the courts, punsihment establishments, observation of the elelctions and fulfil exit poll, prepare alternative reports for the UN, EC and other international institutions, file applications with the ECHR on violation of right to assembly, gathering, not being subject to torture and discrimintion and etc and win the cases.
All of these activites are realized with the supportof the international orgnizations. These activities, international organziations’ cooperation with the NGOs and support irritates the Goverment. The results of these actions, reports, opinions declared about the situation in the country during the meetings and stated facts contradict with the declaration of the Government regarding democratic and free elections, independent courts, mass media, following the right to assembly and gathering, lack of corruption, political pluralism, establishing democracy and its strengthening.
It is very necessary to have control over the activity, including financial resources of the NGOs. Perfection of the legislation, also other problematic issues can be a topic for discussion. But, at first these requirements have to be pertained to all NGOs, including the NGOs established and supported by the Governemnt without any exception. The financial resources of the foundations (including, Heydar Aliyev Foundation) which built hundreds of schools, buildings, fulfil very expensive projects are interesting for the public as well. The information about the ways of expense of the grants shared for the ministries, different state bodies which are more than the amount shared for the NGO sector also have to be publicly.
Transparency must be demanded from the profit organizations, realizing the state orders regarding construction and maintenance and other works as well. At last, transparency must be implemented with regard to the actions of the state bodies, their decisions (including, expense of the budget means). The legislation demands it. Even this requirement must be very firm in respect of the state bodies, compared with NGOs; because the matter about the ways of expense of the budget means, forming based on taxes. Unfortunately, the information requests of the NGOs, mass media, political parties and ordinary persons are remained without response. Despite the fact that the legislation considers administrative responsibility for the refusal to the information requests, any state official has been subject to such responsibility yet.
Secondly, the state defined very strict sanctions concerning registration of the grant agreements and the NGOs violating these rules. According to the information of the relevant state body there are not any serious problems: the NGOs present the information about the grant agreements signed with the donors timely. On the other hand, they submit both financial and program reports to the donors, and in most cases, these reports are being subject to audit examination. Therefore, the accusations against the NGOs have no grounds.
And at last, if the aim really was to strengthen the NGO sector, increase its democracy, effectiveness in the sphere of democracy and reforms and if the Government was open to discussions, it would not be faced with firm reactions. Steps taken by the Government in the field of adoption of these changes contradicting both with the Constitutions and European Convention which Azerbaijan under jusridiction since April 2002 are amounted to impermissible interference to the freedom of assembly by the domestic and international society.
The aim of the changes to the legislation is weaken the NGO sector and to take control over it by depriving them from the financial resources, putting restrictions on their action and expanding the control mechanisms.
The NGOs declared several times that they are not interested in confrontation with the Government. On the contrary, we understand that the work, projects may be effective if they are realized in cooperation with the Government. But we are deprived of this opportunity. The terms suggested by the Government for such cooperation are very hard: if you want to cooperate, you have to praise us; you must say there are no violations during the elections, the detainees are not being subjected to torture in the police departments, imprisonments, the courts do not deliver the decisions, judgements under pressure, there is no corruption at the highest posts of the state, human rights are protected very highly.
I think we have to intensify our forces against the changes to the legislation on NGOs. We have to resist against adoption of this conservative law by conducting meetings, filing petitions with the state bodies, international organizations, by initiating strategically cases and by using other legal remedies. It is not only the matter of existence of the independent sector. It is also a fight for the islets of democracy and freedom in the country. If we lose them, we will face a very difficult test. Support of the international organizations, our colleagues, NGOs, their coalitions, and civil society institutions is very important for us.
