Dispatches from Azerbaijan: European Parliament is bad, Mogherini is good, and more

Reading news feed from this morning, there was too much goodness not to share so in case you are sucker for real "good" news from Azerbaijan I suggest you stop reading right away. 

N!DA activists 

Let's start from two youth activists, members of N!DA movement who were detained May 10 and later charged with drug possession, after being beaten and tortured in detention. On June 2, while Amnesty International recognized Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov as "prisoners of conscience", the two despite it being almost a month are yet to see their families. Their lawyer thinks it is probably because police is trying to make sure their wounds have healed so their parents cannot spot how heavily they have been tortured or simply a way to pressure the young men. 

Mehdiyev's second diatribe 

Its been a while since last diatribe from the head of the Presidential Apparatus, Ramiz Mehdiyev. The last time he published a 60 page article, it was beginning of unprecedented crackdown [December 2014]. Then he wrote about western colonialism, lambasting Western players, in particular the US of double standards, biased approach and anti-Azerbaijan sentiment. This time [az], Mehdiyev wrote about West establishing world domination. He then goes into arguing that the only strong state system is possibly only in presidential administration system. According to Mehdiyev, it is the IMF, WB, WTO and other financial institutions that are directly responsible for violating state sovereignty [wonder if the man is out of touch with his people, because he does not seem to be objecting the government borrowing money from these institutions for various projects and initiatives]. 

But looks like it wasn't just Mehdiyev who decided to bash some "Westerners" this week. 

Ilham Aliyev on fire, but wrong time and wrong place 

 

Next in line for bashing was European Parliament. This time it was President Aliyev who was critical. "The adoption of unfounded resolutions full if insults served to cut Azerbaijani ties with the EP", said the president in a meeting with Norica Nicolai [Vice-Chair of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe at the European Parliament, Eastern Partnership rapporteur for Azerbaijan] and Iveta Grigule [member of the European Parliament]. President Aliyev accused the president and vice president of the European Parliament of being part of anti-Azerbaijan forces. But not to worry because Norica Nicolai doesn't really respect people's rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan. She was one of the delegation members who traveled to Azerbaijan to observe Presidential elections in 2013 who issued a positive report in contrast to ODIHR. Nicolai was also featured in European Stability Initiative's report "Disgraced: Azerbaijan and the end of election monitoring as we know it". 

In 2015, Nicolai published an article where she wrote: 

It is also a country in a very delicate, yet so far stable, political situation. Dealing with its government has to be done according to local cultural customs and whatever action has to be backed with concrete policies. In other words, carrots are more useful than sticks in this region of the world. Sending their Government critical resolutions from the EP every year, without actually giving them any real reason to listen is at best, a pointless exercise.

Wondering what she meant by "local cultural customs". Perhaps the customs of violating elections and silencing critics? Maybe I get to ask this question to Ms. Nicolai when I get a chance to meet her in person but for now, lets assume her only best intentions. 

So Ilham Aliyev bashing EP to Nicolai and Grigule, who by the way happens to be no accidental guest and is also known for supporting Aliyev, wasn't really about bashing and more about wining. 

If you haven't had enough and still want more depressing news from Azerbaijan then I suggest watching this video. It is in Russian but it is about the detention and torture of two N!DA activists.  

But do not worry if even after that you still care to read a bit more, there is plenty of depressing news every day, just stay tuned, and I as always be sharing more with you here.

This is what you get for a pat on a shoulder

Novruz Mammadov is the chief of the department of foreign affairs of the Presidential Administration. Stefan Fule is the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy. Azerbaijan became a member of the Council of Europe in 1999. You are probably thinking what these three have in common. Not a lot, especially if you read one of the most recent statements made by Mr. Mammadov in response to Commissioner Fule's statement regarding the arrests of two opposition voices- Ilgar Mammadov and Tofig Yaqublu. Very openly and quite boldly, Mr. Mammadov threatened EU officials warning them to stay out of Azerbaijan's internal political business and instead deal with its own crisis. 

Frankly, I wasn't surprised to hear such words of deeply nourished wisdom, coming from someone like Mammadov. But the tone is astonishing. Don't mess with us or you will make the lives of those arrested in Azerbaijani much worse than it already is.

This boldness so to speak didn't come from nowhere. For years, Azerbaijan was treated gently or "hugged and held" at a safe distance for Europe's own interests. But its not just Europe. US too, taking into account Azerbaijan's strategic significance been "soft" when it came to hold Azerbaijan's corrupted leaders accountable unlike say in Ukraine or Belarus where pressure has been much higher and more visible. And so, the spoiled child of Europe and the US, Azerbaijan, grew into a spoiled adult, rarely listening anymore. Today, Azerbaijani officials fear no one. They arrest, beat, torture, because they are certain their brutality will go unnoticed (except from "very concerned" statements). Their message is simple- we don't have to listen to you!

And so, Mammadov's statements come as no surprise, after all he is not the first, and he certainly wont be the last. If you remember just few weeks ago Ali Hasanov, head of the Social and Political Department under the Presidential Administration advised Christopher Strasser to retire all together.

The importance of stability in the region, and in the country is costing Azerbaijanis a lot, which surely interests the West to a lesser extent. And while Azerbaijan receives a gentle pat on a shoulder with somewhat parenting look to be kinder, no lessons are learned- the spoiled child returns home to play with its toys, and break or throw away the ones it no longer has interest in. 

When new technology becomes dictator's toys

We all know the drill- in dictatorships, or countries short of democracy, anything related to new technology might be used against you. Because its all seen as a potential treat to the ruling party. Its a simple procedure that is universal pretty much anywhere where circumstances "call for action". In such places, it is likely that your twitter feed, or blog or website may actually by the cause of your arrest, beating or something else. Its no big news, that in places as this, government uses filtering services to monitor what is shared with the rest of the world.

The Open Net Initiative launched a report 'West Censoring East: the use of western technologies by Middle East Censors 2010- 2011'. According to the report's conclusions:

[...] the authors find that nine countries in the region utilize Western- made tools for the purpose of blocking social and political content, effectively blocking a total of over 20 million internet users from accessing such websites.

Below you can read the full report:

ONI_WestCensoringEast