The Voice of Mirza Xazar

At the “Round Table” held by the activists of the “Protest” Movement against injustices in the country, pressure made to the Mass-media personals and in respect of independent journalist Elmar Housseynov’s heavy assassination was adopted the following Statement. Dear compatriots, ladies and gentlemen! After the collapse of the Soviet Union Azerbaijan took the road of integration to the West and establishment of the Civil Society, but unfortunately the global geopolitical problems in the Caucasus Region, wars and domestic contradictions made by the forces who try to come to the power influenced negatively to the democratic development of the society and as the result: Authoritarian regime was established in the country; There were not set the democratic institutions; The unfair privatization was carried out under the “reforms”; By applying the most repressive form of the monopoly the economical wealth were misappropriated by the leaders of the regime; The state bodies were fully and completely made dependent on the will of the authoritarian regime and were moved for their personal security; The state bodies which should protect the interests of the people, has been changed to the repression instrument guarding the regime from the people; The state positions were distributed between the relatives of the Authoritarian regime, their friends and the ones who paid the great amount of the bribe; The settlement of the domestic and regional matters were made dependent of the interests of the Regime; By wrecking the national economy of Azerbaijan the Power began to increase its sums and to use them against the people; Through making the proper maneuvers the Power using the Caucasus regional problems temporarily diverted the attention of the International organizations from the domestic problems – including the mass infringement of the human rights and falsification, horrible corruption, by introducing itself as “a friend” of the West under the cause of ‘protection of the stability’ has once achieved the false elections, strengthened the illegal Power by means of changing into the Regime; The Regime stroke heavily against the Democratic powers of the country by means of some Russian security and proiranian forces, having their own interests in the region; The Regime nullified the activeness of the people immediately after the elections by taking the leaders into the prison, by the mass punishment measures, reduced their will and enthusiasm of struggle, made them leave the country for the best work and freedom (at the moment 3,5 million people of 8,0 million population of the country have left the country); The regime carrying out terror, repression and real war against their own compatriots and the independent press, afford itself to present the democracy like this. To think freely, to tell the truth and to write them during the authority of this Regime – could be compared as with walking in the mined area; Performing its work on fear and toadyism, the Regime also keeps the problem of Garabag like “the Syndrome of Fear”. By this way the Regime, terrifying the majority part of the population with the new war and failures, is not interested in return of more than 1 million people to their native lands. It prevents the socio-political tension by the refugees, being the subjects of the repression and poverty; Bringing the people to the condition of paralysis by the companies and organizations everywhere throughout the country belonging to the members of the Regime, making the superficial obstacles of the life in the sphere of the work, education, health, security, gas, electricity, water and other problems, they annihilate the actives and leader men. At present everyone in Azerbaijan has got a plenty of human problems and they raise their voices of PROTEST against the injustice in the society; The stability in Azerbaijan is humiliating. The situation in the country may come to the critical level as the result of the destructive activity of the forces inside the Regime and the anger of the people who live with a lot of problems for many years. The defeated side here will at the end be the Azerbaijani people, democracy in the Region, the Human Rights, integration to the West, Civil Society and the democratic processes! The repressive destructive local and foreign forces, having their own interests in the Region may infringe the superficial stability in the region using the regime’s antidemocratic policy and inner clan intrigues. All these upper goings causes the PROTEST of the members of the ‘PROTEST’ movement being the Constitutional and civil Movement in order to establish the normal civil society in Azerbaijan: The upper going matters and hundreds of problems which we have not noted here in order to overcome the anticipated tragedies and fighting against the breech of the Human Rights and anti democracy, ‘the Protest’ movement hopes to make constructive reforms to change the existing state in the society and offers: First of all the public TV should be set up in the shortest possible time and its finance should be reached to the level of the state TV. The election Commission and the election Legislation should be properly changed and they should be coordinated with the UNO standards. The repressions and ugly black plans against the Mass Media should be stopped at once. The government should guarantee the security of the opposition trended journalists and freely thinking people and all the court claims raised against the newspapers should be nullified. All the political prisoners should be freed from the prisons and the ugly conditions in the prisons should be improved. The high state functionaries, who have ‘gained’ the hatred of the people, should voluntarily resign or the president of the country in accordance with the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic. As the president of all the citizen of the country should send them to the resignation, taking the support from the people and the political parties. There should be determined the working term in the main state posts and the youth should be attracted to the state works. There should be declared the national reconciliation in the country, the priorities should be determined and there should be started the democratic election company. The repressive state functionaries, who have made heavy state crimes, should be duly punished. There should be determined the foreign and domestic political doctrine of the country, should be achieved the real, profound peace and cooperation. In the management, education, public health, customs, army, administrative structures, court legislation, cultural valuables and in other areas there should be carried out substantial reforms and everything should be brought to the due level for the sake of our state and citizens’ interests. Everybody should have equal rights. The country leader also should feel himself not as a monarch heir, but a man elected by the citizens of the country. The Human Rights, Democracy, Social Fair, Civil Society and economical development should become reality in Azerbaijan. Openness, Transparency, Humanism and Fair will be the ordinary and necessary standards. PROTESTING against the injustice, we demand: For the sake of the free word: Public Television! For the normal life: Democracy! For our freedom: Election opportunity! For the people: Human Rights! For Mass Media: Stop Pressure! For Azerbaijan: Civil Society! ON BEHALF OF THE PROTESTERS Joshgun Feyzullayev Director of “SHRVAN” Human Rights Resource Center