The adjectives biased, spurious and slanderous provide the essence of Baku’s response to the US State Department’s latest report on the global state of human rights, including alleged malpractices in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
Once again, Azerbaijan, the region's energy giant, led the pack with diagnoses of chronic cases of intolerance for freedom of expression, corruption in the judiciary system and abuse of detainees by police.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s senior political advisor, Ali Hasanov, did temper his response with elaborations about the importance of Baku's strategic partnership with the US, but he could not help noticing an alleged double-standard in the American criticism.
A country that, as he sees it, had no qualms about folding the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City is in no position to lecture a country that does not want to allow similarly impromptu demonstrations in the heart of its capital, he implied.
“The unfair comments about Azerbaijan, coming from those who turn a blind eye to restrictions of freedom of assembly in the US and Europe, cannot be regarded as sincere,” objected Hasanov in a lengthy, point-by-point rebuttal of the annual report.
The 77 non-combat deaths in Azerbaijan's army in 2012 -- another black mark in the report -- are a matter of concern for the Azerbaijani government, Hasanov said, but added that the topic is being hyped by the Armenian lobby and their political clients. (Just as Hasanov was busy playing down the army problem, APA news service reported that another Azerbaijani soldier had hanged himself.)
The report, though, indicates that violence in the army is one thing that enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan have in common. Both countries have seen an outpouring of public anger over the killings and abuse of conscripts.
In Armenia, the establishment also shrugged at their share of Washington's criticism. A senior member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia described as “groundless and unsubstantiated” accusations about pervasive corruption, a lack of transparency in government and citizens' inability to change said government, RFE/RL's Armenia service reported.
Of the South Caucasus trio, only Georgia does not seem to have the army-violence problem and only Tbilisi has not responded to the State Department’s criticisms. Most of the faults found centered on the torture and abuse of prisoners, a lack of judicial independence and obstacles to political participation. The cited violations, however, concerned cases that happened prior to the political changeover in last October’s parliamentary election. Little criticism was directly pointed at officials under the current prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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