Azernews.Az

BAKU – The US State Department has issued a report criticizing Azerbaijan’s human rights record in 2010.

It claimed November 7 parliamentary elections "did not meet a number of key standards" of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for democratic elections.

The report, issued Friday, said that according to the final report of the OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), election shortcomings included a deficient candidate registration process, limits on freedom of assembly and expression, unbalanced media coverage of candidates, and problems in vote counting.

The 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices alleged that President Ilham Aliyev "was elected to a second term in 2008 in a flawed election"; constitutionally mandated presidential term limits were removed in a March 2009 referendum, which was also "seriously flawed".

It said that although there were more than 50 political parties in 2010, the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, chaired by President Aliyev, dominated the political system.

The report said restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and association "impaired political party activities and significantly limited citizens' right to change their government through peaceful elections".

The State Department said there were reports that torture and beating of persons in police and military custody resulted in at least seven deaths, and law enforcement officials "acted with impunity". Prison conditions were generally harsh and in some cases life threatening. Arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of individuals considered by the government to be political opponents continued. The government imprisoned persons for political reasons, although authorities released some of these individuals during the year. Pervasive corruption, including in the judiciary and law enforcement, continued, the report claimed.

It said that restrictions on the media and on political participation worsened.

"The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press and specifically prohibits press censorship; however, the government often did not respect these rights in practice. During the year the government released six journalists and two bloggers, but limited media independence remained a problem."

The report said the government restricted religious freedom in some cases. Cases of violence against women were also reported. Trafficking in persons remained a problem, it said.

Regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, the report said ethnic Armenian separatists, with Armenia's support, continued to control most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the country and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories. The government did not exercise any control over developments in those territories. During the year shootings along the line of contact separating the sides as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict again resulted in numerous casualties on both sides.

The report said that the law penalizes corruption by prohibiting bribery; however, "there was widespread corruption with impunity throughout society, including in the civil service, government ministries, and the highest levels of government".

Criminal cases related to petty corruption were opened during the year, specifically on bribery charges, it said. "However, these cases had little or no impact on the prevalence of bribery and petty and grand corruption in the country."