VZCZCXRO9112
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHKB #1140/01 2600944
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 170944Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3879
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2369
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 0687
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0686
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001140 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2017 
TAGS: 
SUBJECT: COE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER THOMAS HAMMARBERG'S 
VISIT TO BAKU 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR ANNE E. DERSE PER 1.4(B,D). 
 
 1. (C) SUMMARY: During a September 3-7 trip to Baku, the 
Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Thomas 
Hammarberg met with a wide range of GOAJ officials, NGO 
activists, high-profile prisoners, and representatives of 
international organizations. Hammarberg told the Ambassador 
that the Council of Europe (COE) is effective because it is 
able to address problems with COE members, like Azerbaijan, 
from the "inside" - through their membership and commitments 
- rather than making demands from the outside. The COE's 
Special Representative to Azerbaijan, Denis Bribosia, said 
that Hammarberg's visit was largely positive, and that his 
main concerns were health, education, and prison conditions. 
The Commissioner's trip garnered widespread press coverage, 
particularly on his publicly expressed concerns on refugees, 
missing persons, prison conditions, and media freedom. We 
believe Hammarberg's visit made a positive impact, and will 
use the recommendations in his forthcoming assessment report 
to press the GOAJ for democratic reform. END SUMMARY 
 
 2. (SBU) The COE's Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas 
Hammarberg, conducted a five-day trip to Baku. Over the 
course of his September 3-7 trip, he met with a wide range of 
government officials, civil society activists, 
representatives of international organizations, and 
high-profile prisoners, in addition to visiting several 
prisons and taking a trip to Ganja, Azerbaijan's second 
largest city. Hammarberg,s visit captured much press 
attention, mostly focused on concerns he raised regarding 
refugees, missing persons, prison conditions, and media 
freedom. 
 
HAMMARBERG'S MEETING WITH THE AMBASSADOR 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 3. (C) In a September 4 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Hammarberg said that the value of the COE in countries like 
Azerbaijan is their COE membership; the organization is able 
to address problems from the inside, in terms of their COE 
commitments, rather than making what can seem as demands from 
the outside. He expressed concern that the European Court of 
Human Rights, verdicts are making an impact in some member 
states, like Russia, in the sense that the governments adhere 
to the fines as stipulated by the rulings, but have not yet 
resulted in major structural changes. Nonetheless, he noted 
that the numerous pending cases against Azerbaijan will have 
an impact once they begin to be processed. Hammarberg told 
the Ambassador that the main purpose of his visit was to 
gather information for an assessment report, which will 
include recommendations for the GOAJ and will be released 
approximately three months after his visit. He noted that 
Azerbaijan has been one of the strongest COE members in terms 
of conforming its laws to European standards, but cautioned 
that implementation of these laws remains a problem. 
 
 4. (C) Hammarberg said that he believed Minister of Justice 
Fikret Mammadov "seemed to agree" with the concerns the 
Commissioner raised, but had indicated that "others" in the 
GOAJ do not, particularly regarding the repressive media 
environment. He noted his impression that Human Rights 
Ombudswoman Elmira Suleymanova appears to be operating in the 
space that is available to her, although he understood that 
she is generally perceived to be not completely independent. 
Hammarberg said he would keep a close eye on the election of 
the next Ombudsman, an office which he believes could 
significantly change the direction of the GOAJ,s human 
rights approach. (NOTE: Ombudsmen are elected for seven-year 
terms; Suleymanova has completed more than five years of her 
term.) 
 
POST-TRIP READOUT 
----------------- 
 
 5. (C) According to COE Special Representative to Azerbaijan 
Denis Bribosia, most of the Commissioner's meetings were 
positive, and Hammarberg had been particularly surprised by 
Minister of National Security Eldar Mahmudov's positive 
attitude. He said that Hammarberg's primary concerns were 
more social than political, focused on areas such as health, 
education, and prison conditions. According to Bribosia, 
Hammarberg concluded that living conditions for IDPs have 
improved significantly over the past several years. Bribosia 
confided that there was one snag in the mostly positive trip: 
 the GOAJ had not wanted Hammarberg to travel outside of 
Baku, but the Commissioner thought it was important to assess 
 
BAKU 00001140 002 OF 002 
 
 
regional conditions. Hammarberg visited Ganja, Azerbaijan's 
second largest city, and was accompanied by Human Rights 
Ombudswoman Elmira Suleymanova the entire time, which his 
delegation did not appreciate. (Bribosia also mentioned that 
as of September 11, there was a COE delegation present in 
Azerbaijan to assess the status of minority groups' rights, 
traveling mostly in Azerbaijan's southern regions to meet 
with Talysh populations; the delegation has been accompanied 
everywhere by two representatives of the Presidential 
Apparat.) 
 
 6. (C) According to Bribosia, Hammarberg did not find the 
media situation to be as catastrophic as had been portrayed 
in the press, although Bribosia noted that he did not get a 
readout of the Commissioner's meeting with jailed Realny 
Azerbaijan Editor Eynulla Fatullayev on the last day of his 
visit, which may have changed his opinion. Bribosia said 
that the press coverage of Hammarberg's meeting with 
President Aliyev was incorrect. Although the press reported 
that Hammarberg had asked the President to pardon the seven 
imprisoned journalists, Bribosia said that the Commissioner 
did not ask for a pardon but instead stated that he did not 
believe journalists should be jailed for their work. The 
President gave Hammarberg the standard GOAJ position that the 
media problems were rooted in the unprofessional behavior of 
journalists, and said that if there were really a government 
campaign against the media, he would crack down much harder. 
Bribosia said that if the journalists are still in prison 
when Hammarberg's assessment report is released, it will 
likely recommend that they be pardoned. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 7. (C) The COE remains one of the strongest Western 
influences in Azerbaijan, due in large part to the legal 
framework to which member states must adhere. Visits of 
high-level COE officials, like Hammarberg's, focused on 
democracy and human rights issues, play an important role in 
calling public attention to the GOAJ's progress and 
shortcomings on these issues. We believe Hammarberg's visit 
made a positive impact, and will use the recommendations in 
his forthcoming report to press the GOAJ for democratic 
reform. 

DERSE

http://dazzlepod.com/cable/07BAKU1140/?q=talysh