Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani government's human rights record worsened in some areas in 2007, the US government said.
The government restricted the public's right to peacefully change the national legislature in the 2005 parliamentary elections, although there have been improvements in some areas, including in the 2006 election reruns in 10 constituencies. Torture and beating of persons in police and military custody resulted in four deaths in 2007, and security forces continue to act with impunity, the State Department said in its report covering countries worldwide.
It said prison conditions--despite improvements in infrastructure--generally remain harsh and life threatening. Arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of individuals considered by the government to be political opponents, and lengthy pretrial detention continue. The government imprisons persons for politically motivated reasons, and there is pervasive corruption in the judiciary and in law enforcement. Restrictions on freedom of assembly continue. Restrictions on media freedom and political participation worsened in 2007. The government imposes restrictions on the activities of some unregistered religious groups. Cases of violence against women have been reported. Reports of cases of trafficking in persons continue, although the government has taken some steps to address the problem, according to the Country Reports on Advancing Freedom and Democracy – 2008 released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
The US government said further that the situation with media freedom worsened last year. Senior US officials raise concerns regarding the imprisonment of journalists on criminal libel and other charges related to their work. Washington urged the government to investigate and bring to justice individuals--whether members of the security forces or others--responsible for physical attacks on journalists, including those responsible for the unsolved 2005 murder of prominent independent journalist Elmar Huseynov. The United States continues to support activities to professionalize the media.
The report cited positive developments as well, in particular, infrastructure development and some reforms. The Azerbaijani government is making an effort to combat human trafficking. The United States supports training on antitrafficking in persons legislation and victim identification strategies and promotes antitrafficking measures and preventive mechanisms in meetings with government officials. U.S. officials regularly engage with the international community to coordinate antitrafficking efforts.
The report said Washington continued working to promote human rights and democracy in the country. The U.S. government's human rights and democracy strategy focuses on promoting five key sectors of democratic development: democratic political processes; the rule of law and the fight against corruption; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; respect for media freedom; and an engaged, empowered, and educated citizenry.
Many of the U.S. government's policy and programming efforts focus on promoting democratic political processes, especially creating the conditions necessary for a free and fair presidential election in October 2008. The U.S. government also continues to support the development of a transparent and accountable parliament, the report said.*