<<previous | index
To the Government of Azerbaijan:
- Immediately release Rauf Arifoglu pending the
outcome of his trial;
- Investigate all attacks on journalists and prosecute
those found responsible;
- Provide training for law enforcement on human rights
standards, in particular the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials
and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials, and ensure that mechanisms are in place to monitor
whether police officers adhere to them in practice. Training should also
include the rights of the press to report on opposition and other events
and police activities and the right of the public to be informed about
such events, including human rights violations, and other matters of
legitimate public interest;
- Ensure the impartial access for journalists to
government information and facilities;
- Repeal criminal insult and libel provisions from the
criminal code;
- Amend the civil code to establish a reasonable
statutory cap on civil awards for non-pecuniary damages;
- Set up a parliamentary commission of investigation
or other body to investigate the issues of violence against journalists
and informal censorship that would work with the OSCE Special
Representative on Freedom of the Media to produce a program of action to
improve press freedom in the country;
- Ensure that government authorities facilitate,
rather than block, the right to freedom of assembly, in particular by
granting journalists permission to carry out peaceful public protests and by
ensuring their safety at such gatherings;
- Prioritize the founding of a genuinely independent
public television station, in accordance with commitments and obligations
stemming from membership in the Council of Europe.
To the International Community:
- Urge the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure full
respect for media freedoms in bilateral and multilateral meetings, and
follow up on the Azerbaijani government's commitments regarding media
freedom;
- Monitor closely the activities of Azerbaijani law
enforcement agencies, and ensure that any technical assistance or other
aid to them is conditioned on a clear commitment to improving their record
on harassment and violence against journalists and excessive use of force
against demonstrators. Condemn publicly police violence and intimidation
of media professionals.
- Call for the abolition of criminal defamation in Azerbaijan;
- Assist the Azerbaijani government to amend the civil
code and other relevant laws to stop the abuse of civil defamation cases
to restrict press freedom;
- Provide interested journalists and defense lawyers
training on defamation issues and internationally protected media
freedoms;
- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
should encourage the Azerbaijani authorities to set up a parliamentary
commission or other body to investigate the issues of violence against
journalists and informal censorship and work with that body to ensure that
an effective program of action to improve press freedom is developed;
- The Council of Europe should continue to press the
Azerbaijani authorities to set up a genuinely independent public
television station;
- The World Bank and the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development should make respect for media freedoms an
element of their country assistance strategies for Azerbaijan. Support for a free and independent media should also become an integral part of efforts
to combat corruption in the country;
- The European Union should use its Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement with Azerbaijan to press for concrete improvements in the field
of media freedom and other areas of urgent human rights concern. These
reform demands should take the form of specific benchmarks, setting clear
timeframes, and spelling out the consequences for non-compliance;
- The United States government should use every
opportunity to raise concern about abuses in the field of media freedom
and other areas of urgent human rights concern with Azerbaijani government
officials, and press for the authorities to take urgent measures to
address them;
[107] Human Rights Watch
gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Alex Lupis, program director for
the CIS region for the Committee to Protect Journalists, for his insights and
contributions regarding the recommendations to this briefing paper.
|