Written by HRH Baku/Shahla Ismailova, photo by Shahla Ismailova

The government’s violent dispersal of a peaceful rally held by the “Azadlig” Election Bloc and other political powers on November 26, 2005 had serious resonance both in this country and in the international arena. Azerbaijan’s human rights organizations and well-known legal specialists decided to create a Public Investigation Commission, which held the careful investigation since November and released the report in the end of February. (01-MAR-2006)

Before the authorized time at which the rally was to end, government forces attacked rally participants with great cruelty, using a variety of different violent means. In the ensuing  confrontation, hundreds of people – including elderly people, women and children sustained various degrees of injuries; hundreds of other people were detained, some receiving official reprimands. The cruelty with which rally participants were confronted can only be regarded as contradictory to many international treaties and Azerbaijan’s own constitution, as well as the efforts of all human rights organizations and many independent legal experts and political forces.

Creation of Public Investigation Commission
Numerous international organizations and the local organs of foreign countries made statements expressing their disapproval with this event. Following this event, statements released by government authorities were traditional in nature. They justified the actions of the government forces by blaming rally organizers. After such statements the objectiveness all investigations carried out by the government with regards to this event are cast under the shadow of doubt. Therefore, Azerbaijan’s human rights organizations and well-known legal specialists decided to create a Public Investigation Commission in early December.

The Commission included 14 members: Novella Jafaroglu, Saadat Bananyarly, Sahib Mamedov, Shahla Ismailova (members of the Core Group of the emerging Human Rights House in Azerbaijan) as well as Saida Gojamanly, Irada Javadova, Rena Sadaddinova, Alovsat Aliyev, Chingiz Ganizadeh, Murad Sadaddinov, Annaghi Hajibeyli, Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, Rashid Hajili, Intigam Aliyev.

The release of the report took place in the International Press Center with participation of representatives of political parties, public organizations, media and victims of violence.

Contents of the report
The report includes the description of the circumstances prior to the rally, the analysis of the legal basis for the mass protest of November 26, 2005 and the authorization obtained from the City Council, the description of the rally conduct, the quotations of the victims from the interview, finally following by the conclusions of the Public Investigation Commission.

Victims’ quotations
Rally-26-WomanOne of the injured person, who wished to stay anonymous noted: “My body was black and blue from rubber bullets. And I lost one liter of blood from my nose. One of my teeth was broken and my leg still hurts”. Another victim of the police violence remembers: “when I raised my head I saw what looked like wild police and plainclothes ‘people’. Then they started hitting people, including women, children and elderly people, with batons, kicking them, and yelling despicable curse words at them as they tried to flee. They even stomped on people who fell on the ground. Savage police and plainclothes people with leather waistcoats released dogs on people who had departed from the square and used water cannons against them. Even rubber bullets were used…”

Conclusions of the Investigation Commission
Based on the investigation the Public Investigation Commission came to the following conclusions:
– The use of force to end the rally held by “Azadlig”, “Milli Birlik”, and other election blocs on the square in front of the State Film Fund on 26 November 2005 was in contradiction with Azerbaijan Constitution and international norms, violating fundamental rights and freedom in rude and inhumane way.
– The rally was peaceful in nature. The police’s violent actions could not be justified simply by the participants’ desire to remain on the square after the rally, nor because the rally’s agreed upon ending time passed. It cannot be proved that rally participants had shown police and/or Interior Ministry troops a desire to do anything illegal neither when they expressed a desire to continue the rally in the form of a sit-in, nor at any time during the rally.
– People directing the police and Interior Ministry troops, the high ranking people who gave the order to disperse the rally with such ruthlessness, the people who inflicted injuries on rally participants and destroyed equipment belong to the rally’s organizers, and the police and Interior Ministry troops who caused serious material loss must be brought to criminal and civil responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.