Azerbaijan, the Oriental shame of the Caucasus

Perhaps the title rings a bell? 

Perhaps you have never seen this tourism ad titled "Azerbaijan, the European charm of the Orient"? 

Well now you know all about it. In fact, many readers of this blog are aware by now that Azerbaijan is no charm when it comes to its regime and the style of power- the dynasty of the orient even perhaps.

And the fact that Azerbaijani authorities refuse to accept any of the international criticisms and concerns only proves that there are deep scars that the government desperately tries to cover up like plastic surgeons do. Except in this case, its a very badly done plastic job (think boob job gone bad type of bad). 

There have been many reports, statements, petitions, signed, sealed, voiced and advocated for when it comes to the situation in Azerbaijan- poor (if not terrible) record of human rights, arrested activists, journalists, advocates; and more recently targeted youth, young members of existing political parties and movements and dirty media campaigns against well respected journalists. There have been many evaluations of the regime too- authoritarian, dictatorial, sultanistic, and more recently fascist. 

And as it is with many dictatorships around the world, in Azerbaijan nothing changes. So when the ruling party announced Ilham Aliyev as their candidate to run in the upcoming October Presidential elections, at least what they could have done is show some respect towards others- but behold, thats not part of the language they talk. So comments about other candidates were blatant if not silly to some extent. But then again, brains is another contested matter over there.

But none of this was the point of this post. I wanted to share with a you a timely video prepared by the Human Rights Watch highlight some of the most recent cases. You can also read their full 106page report, "Tightening the screws: Azerbaijan's Crackdown on Civil Society and Dissent.

I guess the odds will never be in the favor of Azerbaijani people. Not in these elections to say the least. Perhaps a charming oriental miracle?

Say freedom no more? [Updated April 14, 2013]

See the second part of the post for updates

So it isn't just movies and exhibitions on human rights and freedom that are being banned these days back in Azerbaijan. In fact, its all about banning anything that contains the word "Freedom" itself looks like. On Wednesday, April 10th, the office space of the Free Thought University was sealed [RU] by the local police. No further explanation was provided by the local authorities and the University postponed its lectures indefinitely. 

Known at home as AFU, it is one (if not only) independent venues for young people to come and listen to lectures on a range of topics. As the website of the university explains it itself- AFU is a space offering its visitors alternative education.

Who knows, maybe the government would ban the word itself very soon. And then it would probably say something along the lines, Azerbaijan achieved all the necessary levels of freedom so no need to mention it, or say it no more. 

Updated:
On April 11th, 2013, the Free Thought University placed an official explanation [AZ] regarding the "sealing" operation. According to the statement FTU was shut down based on vague allegations put forward by the prosecutor general office. The statement reminds that OL! is a youth movement not an NGO and there is no legislation within the legal framework of Azerbaijan stipulating some kind of mechanism for such institutions. The FTU never received an official grant. In fact, to continue its work, within its current format, OL! has been working to find a legal solution. It is for these reasons, closing down FTU's premises is completely baseless. The letter, asks for the prosecutor office to unseal the FTU premises. In one final remark, the statement reminds its readers that the FTU is OL! project solely and has no relation to any other institution.