We are pleased to be able to follow the newly created official blog of the Department for Strategy and Deregulation of the Ministry of Justice. However, we were surprised by the recent post from April 28th 2014, entitled “What can we learn from Azerbaijan?” The author – who works at the Department – points out the lack of internet tools that would allow the applicants with legal problems to find the right court, or the right legal procedure to follow. The situation in Azerbaijan is quite different: the Internet platform created more than two years ago includes a clear and transparent map of common courts, information about the Constitutional Tribunal and templates of legal forms. As the author of the blog post rightly observes, the website is transparent, clear and definitely useful for the potential applicants. It is available in three languages: English, Russian and Azeri. However, it does not reflect the irregularities and problems that haunt the Azerbaijan’s justice system.
The professionally-looking website about justice system does not list the names of advocates who were deprived of the right to practice, nor the lawyers who had to leave the country because of the constant threats. The portal does not provide the names of the judges who sent the activist from the opposition group NIDA and numerous bloggers and journalists to jail. It does not give the information on how to contact the persons kept in arrest located in the cellars of the Ministry of Interior. The arrestees that were kept there usually confess and their bruises and scars, hidden under the clothes are the only evidence of what they went through.
Azerbaijan is the weakest link among the Council of Europe member states when it comes to respecting Human Rights. At the end of 2012, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly analysed Azerbaijan’s achievements in the fields of democracy and human rights’ protection to date. The report revealed the need for far-reaching reform of the judiciary system.
Azeri non-governmental organizations estimate that there are over 100 political prisoners in the country’s prisons at the moment. It is hard to imagine that they were tried and sentenced by independent and fair judges. The most recent important sentences were announced on March 17th 2014 and concerned opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov and journalist Tofig Yagublu. The politician was sentenced to 7 years of prison, while the journalist received the sentence of 5 years and 6 months of prison. They were convicted for incitement to unrest, which is a crime under Azeri law. The factual basis for their conviction was the fact that they took part in the demonstrations that took place in the city of Ismayili between January 23rd and 24th, 2013. The demonstrators were protesting against social inequalities and abuse of power by the government. Anar Mammadli, who runs a centre for social studies and was courageous enough to reveal the abuses that took place during 2013 presidential elections, is also under arrest.
Given these circumstances it is hard to accept that an employee of the Ministry of Justice decided to write about the portal of the Azeri justice system, without even briefly mentioning the problems with the rule of law in the country. The fact that Polish officials praise the worst, next to Belarus, dictatorship in EU neighbourhoods, contradicts the democratic values that the Polish government is trying to promote on the international scene. Even if the website is, indeed, wonderful, one could, depending on one’s taste, acknowledge it, but should not promote it and give it as an example. If Ukrainian courts build glamorous, clean and refurbished buildings, should we forget the corruption prevalent in the country’s justice system? If Uzbekistan adopts a model constitution, should we forget the human rights violations taking place there?
Undoubtedly, the representatives of the Azeri Embassy in Poland, who put in a lot of effort to avoid any negative mentions of their country and sugar-coat them with positive news, were pleased with the blog post. The resources coming from oil and gas trade have an unlimited power in this respect. The sum spent on buying space on Atletico Madrid T-shirts and putting the slogan “Azerbaijan: Land of Fire” on them, are nothing compared with the money spent by the Polish government on the famous “Hey Jude” clip (12 million EUR for 1,5 season). It is not the place of the Polish government to help the Azerbaijan spread its propaganda.
Perhaps the article was merely a result of an oversight. In the future, similar setbacks can be avoided by implementing greater coordination between departments. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to have a completely different position on Azerbaijan to that expressed by the blog post, and its head, Radosław Sikorski declared in December 2013 that Poland would support Azerbaijan in its pursuit of the rule of law and respect for the basic rights of its citizens.
Dr Adam Bodnar – Vice-President, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Dominika Bychawska-Siniarska – Lawyer, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
