Crackdown deepens in Azerbaijan as schism hits international monitors

10/20/03

As a crackdown deepens in Baku, a schism has developed among the international monitoring missions over the government's conduct during Azerbaijan's presidential election and its aftermath. One monitoring group, the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE), has released a dissenting opinion, indicating that election violations in Azerbaijan were far more prevalent and egregious than the OSCE's preliminary assessment stated.

The IDEE contributed 188 monitors, or roughly one-third of the total number deployed under the OSCE's mission, to observe the October 15 Azerbaijan presidential vote, which official figures showed Ilham Aliyev winning in a landslide. [For background see the EurasiaNet archive]. The preliminary assessment produced by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights characterized the election as "generally well administered," while noting a "number of irregularities" that caused the election to fall "short of international standards."

All 188 IDEE monitors joined a dissenting assessment, issued October 18, that suggests the OSCE/ODIHR report downplayed the scope and significance of electoral fraud committed during the election. The IDEE mission included monitors from many formerly Communist states in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, including Belarus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Poland and Ukraine.

"The observers from Central Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, from countries which recently won democracy or are struggling towards it, are concerned that if the word ‘election' is to retain its original meaning, the events of October 15 in Azerbaijan have to be described by a different term," the IDEE statement said.

The IDEE statement went on to say that "crowds of voters" were improperly prevented from casting ballots. It also accused police and pro-government supporters of creating a mood of intimidation that "prevented the free expression of the will of citizens."

"In many polling stations three was continuous video recording of voters by people who did not have required accreditation," the IDEE dissenting opinion stated. "The opening of the polling stations and preparation for voting, as well as the closing of polling stations and the preparation for the counting of votes, were systematically accompanied by violations of procedural laws."

The IDEE statement emphasized that in many election precincts, official results were never publicly released. It added that the ability of international and local observers to monitor the ballot counting process was severely restricted. "The elections were not transparent since the legal right to observe the process of voting, of counting and tabulating the votes was violated in most of the observed instances," the IDEE statement said.

In Baku, authorities continued to arrest opposition activists and supporters, who are being charged with fomenting unrest in Baku on October 15-16 that left at least five dead. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Police checkpoints were established on the outskirts of the capital in an attempt to prevent opposition supporters from traveling to Baku to engage in new protests.

Over 100 opposition leaders in provincial centers around the country have been arrested, according to an OSCE/ODIHR statement issued October 20. In Baku, a larger number of opposition partisans, including journalists, have been rounded up. The OSCE/ODIHR director, Ambassador Christian Strohal, voiced particular concern over the arrests of election officials "who refused to certify the results in their polling stations or districts."

"The security of all election officials who have conducted their duties honestly should be guaranteed, and any remaining in detention should be released immediately," Strohal said in the written statement.

Among the most recent arrests was Zabil Migabiloghlu, a journalist for the 525-qazeti newspaper, who was taken into custody October 20 for purportedly assaulting a police officer during the post-election clashes. In all, 45 journalists have been taken into custody by authorities. Those detained can be held for up to 15 days without being formally charged with a crime.

Azerbaijani President-elect Ilham Aliyev, who will succeed his ailing father Heidar, justified the tough stance taken by law-enforcement officials, saying that opposition leaders were determined to spread chaos. "The radical wing of the opposition has again demonstrated its essence," Aliyev said in an interview broadcast by Lider TV on October 18. "Azerbaijan is a strong state and is capable of defending itself.... Their [the opposition] leaders and those who provoked people into acting [October 15-16] will be brought to book."

Isa Gambar, the leader of the opposition Musavat Party and the second leading vote getter in the flawed presidential election, remained under virtual house arrest on October 20. In an October 19 interview with the Turan news agency, he denied that his party was responsible for the violent anti-government protests, and accused government officials of "conducting a campaign of terror and mass repression against their own people."

In an earlier interview with the Zerkalo newspaper, Gambar indicated that he would be willing to surrender himself for possible prosecution, if the government would release all others now in custody. "What is happening is that authorities are scaring and intimidating the people and the opposition into [accepting] a total falsification of the presidential elections," Gambar said. "If the governing regime holds me responsible for all the processes going on in the country, authorities should arrest me and release all those who have been detained."

Posted October 20, 2003 © Eurasianet