[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 4, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       HUMAN RIGHTS IN AZERBAIJAN

 Mr. DeCONCINI. Mr. President, since 1988, the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict has resulted in thousands of casualties and hundreds of 
thousands of refugees on both sides. This war represents the worst-case 
confrontation between two Helsinki principles: the equal right of 
peoples to self-determination, on the one hand, and respect for 
territorial integrity and peaceful change of borders by agreement, on 
the other. Alas, in the postcommunist era, this collision of ideas has 
led to very bloody consequences on the ground.
  But I want to address more traditional human rights, such as the 
right to assemble, the right to express one's opinion, and the right to 
be free of arbitrary and brutal treatment by the authorities. In these 
respects, the record of Azerbaijan's Government has been poor indeed.
  Since returning to power after a June 1993 coup d'etat, Haidar Aliev 
has demonstrated the attitude toward human rights that might be 
expected from a former Communist Party and KGB boss. As President of 
Azerbaijan, despite his professed support for the rule of law, he has 
repressed the Azerbaijan Popular Front [APF] and other opposition 
groups. His policies led Freedom House last December to add Azerbaijan 
to its list of not free countries.
  The ensuing months have brought no improvement. According to APF 
sources, there are currently over 40 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. 
The police ransacked APF headquarters in Baku last July, and seized 
video and computer equipment; in February 1994, the authorities sealed 
the building, charging the APF with planning an armed uprising. APF 
publications, especially Azadlyk, have been confiscated. Police 
routinely break up rallies and demonstrations by APF supporters, and 
often beat would-be participants. APF members are detained without just 
cause or due process. In late February and early March, some 100 
members of the APF and the Mussavat Party were arrested. On March 29, 
in the lobby of parliament, an advisor to President Aliev beat into 
unconsciousness a Mussavat Party member of parliament.
  Meanwhile, censorship--which the State Department's human rights 
report called ``methodical and intensive''--has stifled the media. Last 
August, Azerbaijani journalists protested restrictions on freedom of 
expression; in February 1994, the main opposition parties again 
denounced limitations on freedom of the press. In March, the 
International Federation of Journalists condemned Azerbaijan Government 
attempts to close down the Turan News Agency.
  The former Speaker of Azerbaijan's Parliament, Isa Gambar, was 
arrested last June. He was released in August after an initiative by 
Members of the U.S. Congress. But Azerbaijan's Government now wants to 
put him on trial, charging him with responsibility for the events that 
led to last year's coup d'etat.
  Mr. President, Azerbaijan is at war, and must deal with an economic 
crisis and a huge refugee population. But that is no excuse for the 
crackdown on the political opposition and the flagrant assault on free 
speech President Aliev has sponsored or tolerated. His return to power 
has resolved none of Azerbaijan's many problems; his apparent 
determination to crush the opposition will only aggravate an already 
desperate situation.

                          ____________________