A change in police tactics - and in turnout - for Baku protests

Rufat Abbasov and Mina Muradova 10/24/05

International criticism appears to have prompted authorities in Azerbaijan to moderate their tactics for handling opposition demonstrations during the run-up to the country's parliamentary election.

For the fourth time in a month, city police on October 23 prevented supporters of the main opposition bloc – known as the Azadlig (Freedom) coalition, comprising the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, the Musavat Party and Democratic Party of Azerbaijan – from holding an unauthorized demonstration in the center of the Azerbaijani capital.

About 200 opposition activists, most carrying carnations, tried to gather near the Nariman Narimanov Cinema, not far from a busy weekend shopping area, but were blocked by a police cordon carrying riot shields and truncheons. The number of opposition supporters who turned out was significantly lower than for earlier protests.

Striking their truncheons against the shields, more than 60 security troops pushed the protesters across a park to the Nariman Narimanov subway station, and eventually dispersed the crowd into small groups. During the action, demonstrators, chanting "Freedom" and "Free elections" in Azeri, surrounded Popular Front Party Chairman Ali Kerimli to prevent his arrest. Police responded with blows to the legs and arms of dozens of demonstrators, according to observers.

Opposition protestors noted what some described as a departure from previous tactics. "Earlier, the police did not use force, but after his [Kerimli's] arrival, they started to beat us," said Magam youth movement coordinator Emin Huseynov, showing a knee swollen by police pushing demonstrators gathered around Kerimli. "The difference [this time] is that they did not beat our heads."

Dozens of opposition members had also tried to gather on Nizami Street, known popularly as Torgovaya Street, in downtown Baku. Police, however, detained protesters and placed them in mini-buses upon arrival. Hours after the demonstration was disbanded, police officers could be seen scattered throughout Fountain Square, a popular Baku meeting place.

Deputy Baku Police Chief Yashar Aliyev said that the opposition was responsible for stirring up trouble, adding that on October 22 the police had warned opposition supporters against staging a rally in central Baku without permission. "There was no violence [used against protestors]," Aliyev said, stressing that "the police improve their methods at every rally."

Aliyev claimed that law enforcement agents had "behaved correctly, asking people to go away, and detained those who resisted the police and violated law and order."

Fifteen people were detained during the demonstration, according to Aliyev. In a statement following the protest, however, Kerimli claimed that up to 100 opposition members were arrested, including two of his advisers and four parliamentary candidates, Panah Huseynov, Fuad Gahramanli, Bahatdin Aziyev and Isak Huseinli. Aliyev denied that any candidate had been arrested.

On October 22, representatives from Azadlig and the Baku police department met to discuss the rally planned for the next day. The meeting did not secure official authorization for the protest, according to a report broadcast on ANS television. "The good news is that they [the police] promised not to beat protesters' heads," Deputy Popular Front Chairman Hasan Kerimov was reported as saying.

Some experts associated the change in police tactics with harsh statements by international observers that urged Azerbaijani authorities to halt police violence against opposition activists. The statements were made following an October 9 demonstration in Baku and the arrests of dozens of citizens and opposition members on the eve of exiled opposition leader Rasul Guliyev's attempted October 17 return to Azerbaijan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

On October 19, Maurizio Pavesi, chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's mission in Baku, expressed "serious concern" about the deterioration of the political situation in Azerbaijan and its possible impact on the upcoming parliamentary election. "We are very concerned about an increase of violence, the use of excessive and groundless force against demonstrators, and dubious detentions and arrests," Pavesi said.

"With two weeks to go before the parliamentary election, we call on the authorities to immediately explain the need for the operations carried out by the security forces to avoid [a] further worsening of the political situation in Azerbaijan which is tense as it is," Pavesi said.

On October 22, the New York-based human rights organization Freedom House distributed a statement that warned that restrictions imposed by authorities "cast serious doubt on the ability of average Azeri citizens to enjoy a free and fair vote on November 6."

"Political demonstrations, which have been taking place weekly in the run-up to the elections, have been marred by police brutality, intimidation and arbitrary arrests of opposition members," Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor said. "The Azeri authorities are demonstrating a troubling pattern of denial of rights, which suggests that there is insufficient political will to carry out fair and representative elections." Windsor urged the Azerbaijani government to cease "trying to silence opposition members, candidates, and journalists."

On October 21, Assistant US Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Daniel Fried echoed those statements with the message that Washington is concerned about the election situation in Azerbaijan, as well as worried about the developments of the past week concerning the return of former Parliamentary Speaker Rasul Guliyev and the arrests of government officials in connection with an alleged coup attempt engineered by Guliyev. Among the detained are former Economic Development Minister Farhad Aliyev and Health Minister Ali Insanov. "Further relations between Azerbaijan and the United States will depend on [the] forthcoming elections," Fried told reporters.

US President George W. Bush was similarly forthright in a message to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev commemorating Azerbaijan's October 18 Independence Day. In his letter, Bush called the November election an opportunity to raise US-Azerbaijani relations to "a new strategic level" and emphasized that the US leadership is looking forward to continuing its cooperation with Aliyev after the election campaign.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders say that in the 13 days that remain until election day, they plan to keep organizing rallies in central Baku, as well as in the regions. The next rally in Baku is scheduled for October 30. "We will continue to demonstrate to the Azerbaijani public and the world that there are alternative forces in Azerbaijan to the present government," said Kerimli.

Editor's Note: Rufat Abbasov and Mina Muradova are freelance journalists in Baku.