Freedom House: widespread declines on democracy in Azerbaijan

The Freedom House has released the 14th edition of comprehensive, comparative study of democratic development in 29 countries from Central Europe to Eurasia, entitled “Nations in Transit 2010.” 

The survey focused on trends in national democratic governance, judicial framework and independence, electoral process, corruption, independent media, etc. The report showed that 10 countries regressed in media independence in 2009, half of those in new EU member states.

“In 2009, Kyrgyzstan experienced a wave of attacks against independent journalists and a decrease in the ability of news media to criticize government policies. Kazakhstan failed to liberalize its media law in keeping with its commitments to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the use of libel suits to punish investigative journalists continued to mar the country’s record on press freedom. While Russia’s Internet generally retains a good deal of openness, on several fronts the authorities are insinuating themselves into the medium. The effort includes the acquisition of blogging platforms and popular Web sites by Kremlin-friendly companies and the emergence of commentators and provocateurs who subvert online discourse,” said in the press release.

Here are some pieces in relation to Azerbaijan:

“No election in Azerbaijan has been assessed as free and fair since the adoption of the country’s constitution in 1995. Irregularities have included the abuse of administrative resources, intimidation and harassment of the opposition, and election day violations. The March 2009 referendum approving controversial
constitutional amendments was criticized by opposition parties as deeply flawed. No opposition parties are represented in election commissions at any level. The lack of media independence has undermined the fairness of Azerbaijani polls and thwarted public debate. Municipal elections held in December 2009 were perceived to be marred by violations and fraud.

“There was significant pressure against human rights defenders, independent media outlets, and watchdog organizations during the year. Youth activists were also targeted, including two young bloggers who were detained in July 2009 and sentenced to prison terms on apparently trumped-up charges.”

According to report, Armenia’s electoral process rating remains at 5.75; civil society rating remains at 3.75; independent media rating remains at 6.00; local democratic governance rating remains at 5.50; judicial framework and independence remains at 5.50; and corruption rating remains at 5.50.