EU Should Not Squander Leverage on Human Rights in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia

(New York, December 9, 2005) — The European Union should press for concrete
benchmarks on torture, freedom of expression and other key human rights issues
on Monday when it holds ministerial-level meetings with Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia, Human Rights Watch said today.

The European Union is holding these annual meetings in Brussels under the
framework of its Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with the three
countries. Under its European Neighbourhood Policy, the European Union is
currently negotiating “action plans” with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia that
will set concrete benchmarks for progress in a range of areas, including human
rights. Closer economic, social and cultural ties with the European Union will
depend on whether countries fulfill the benchmarks, giving the European Union
significant leverage on human rights issues in the countries of the south
Caucasus, Human Rights Watch said.

“This meeting gives the European Union a unique opportunity to press Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia for concrete progress on human rights,” said Holly
Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “EU governments
should not miss this chance to encourage tangible improvements on human rights
in these countries.”

The European Union has a poor track record in using its Partnership and
Cooperation Council meetings to extract concrete commitments in human rights.
Although significant human rights problems have plagued each of the countries of
the south Caucasus since their independence from the former Soviet Union, the
conclusions issued after past Cooperation Council meetings have failed to
reflect these concerns adequately.

“EU cooperation with the south Caucasus countries needs to include a public
acknowledgment of ongoing human rights problems,” said Cartner. “Without
admitting that human rights violations exist in these countries, the European
Union cannot expect to address them in a meaningful way.”

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have all expressed a strong desire to develop
closer ties with the European Union. They have also promised improvements in
human rights compliance. Despite limited progress in some areas, reforms have
been slow and inadequately implemented in all three countries.

Torture and ill-treatment in custody, abusive law enforcement authorities, lack
of independence of judges and lawyers and restrictions on freedom of the press
remain ongoing problems in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Armenia: The Armenian government continues to use its powers to limit political
activity, restricting freedom of assembly and persecuting those that it
perceives as a threat to its hold on power. Human rights defenders critical of
the government are particularly targeted for abuse. In the past year, such
pressure extended to the ombudsperson’s office, following the release of her
first annual report, which criticized the government for its human rights
record.

Torture and ill-treatment in police custody are widespread in Armenia,
particularly in pretrial detention with the aim of coercing a confession or
evidence against third parties. Abuse and mistreatment within the army is also
common, with dozens of suspicious deaths occurring every year.

Despite the emergence of significant independent and opposition print media, the
government continues to restrict full media freedom in the country, including
taking away the broadcasting frequencies of television channels that air
independent news coverage about Armenia.

Azerbaijan: The Azerbaijani government actively persecutes those it perceives to
be critical of its policies. Torture, police abuse and excessive use of force by
security forces are widespread, particularly in pretrial detention, where
torture and other abuses are used to coerce a confession or other information
from a detainee.

In response to strong international pressure, authorities released more than 100
political prisoners in the run-up to a June deadline set by the Council of
Europe. Nevertheless, other political prisoners remain in custody, and
Azerbaijan has yet to find a permanent solution to this problem, including
increasing the independence of the judiciary. Throughout the year, opposition
supporters have been imprisoned and charged in what appear to be politically
motivated cases.

The government pressures opposition and independent media outlets by limiting
their access to printing facilities and distribution networks, by initiating
defamation cases resulting in the imposition of crippling fines, by restricting
access to official information, and by harassing journalists. The authorities
continue to deny registration to many human rights NGOs, usually on minor
technical grounds. Human rights defenders continue to fall victim to physical
and verbal attacks, and other forms of harassment.

Azerbaijan has a history of seriously flawed elections. The Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found that although there had been
some improvements in election procedures, the November parliamentary elections
fell short of international standards. The OSCE noted violations such as
harassment of opposition supporters, intimidation of observers, tampering with
election protocol results and ballot-box stuffing.

Human Rights Watch has continued to document incidents of intimidation and
persecution of independent and opposition candidate supporters after the
elections. The government has investigated some election violations highlighted
by the international community, but has yet to take comprehensive steps to end
impunity for officials who committed the abuses and ensure that they are not
repeated in the post-election environment.

Georgia: The government of President Mikheil Saakashvili has had an uneven
record on human rights since it gained power following the “Rose Revolution” in
late 2003. Despite the government’s ambitious reform agenda, human rights abuses
continue unchecked in many spheres, following patterns established under
previous governments.

Constitutional amendments adopted in 2004 increased the president’s influence
over the judiciary, further eroding judicial independence. A subsequent
presidential decree issued in April led to the dismissal of significant numbers
of judges through an arbitrary decision-making process that failed to set clear
criteria for deciding which judges would be removed from their positions.

Although the media is now relatively free, it has become less critical of the
government, and there are signs of increasing government influence on media
content.

The government has taken some positive steps to prevent torture, but torture and
due process violations continue to be reported. Refugees, mainly from Chechnya,
remain vulnerable to abuse at the hands of the police and other authorities.

“The EU should only agree to action plans that set concrete benchmarks and
specific timelines for progress on human rights,” said Cartner. “And the EU must
firmly state the consequences if these countries fail to comply.”

Human Rights Watch said that the European Union should publicly communicate such
an approach after its meeting with the three governments on Monday.