The Voice of Mirza Xazar

U.S. State Department Report On Trafficking in Persons Report Released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons June 5, 2006 AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijan is primarily a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most Azerbaijani victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation to Turkey and the Persian Gulf. Other destinations include Russia, Germany, and Greece. Reports of internal trafficking also continued, as did reports of men trafficked to Turkey and Russia for forced labor. The Government of Azerbaijan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government undertook important steps to prevent and combat trafficking during the reporting period. In 2005, the government passed anti-trafficking legislation, appointed a new national anti-trafficking coordinator, fully vetted the staff of an anti-trafficking police unit, nearly completed renovations of a trafficking shelter, and created two new trafficking hotlines. The government should take immediate and tangible steps to improve victim rehabilitation by opening, adequately staffing, and fully funding its shelter for trafficking victims. It should also implement a nation-wide victim referral mechanism so that law enforcement personnel improve identification and protection of trafficking victims. Prosecution In 2005, the Government of Azerbaijan adopted its Law on the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons and adopted corresponding amendments to the criminal code. The law covers trafficking for both forced labor and sexual exploitation and carries a maximum penalty of 10 to 12 years. Due to the late passage of the criminal code amendments, however, the government continued to use older trafficking-related laws to prosecute traffickers in 2005. During the reporting period, the government opened 160 trafficking investigations and prosecuted 153 cases, resulting in 93 convictions. By the end of the reporting period, 37 traffickers were in prison. The government gave fines to 26 convicted traffickers and gave suspended sentences to 10 convicted traffickers in 2005. During the reporting period, the government completed a thorough vetting process, including conducting exams and background investigations, for its anti-trafficking police unit to ensure the unit meets international standards. The Ministry of Interior worked with customs and border officials to monitor and identify potential trafficking victims at airports, seaports, and land crossings and in January 2006 announced the disruption of a transnational trafficking ring. The Azerbaijani Government cooperated with U.S. counterparts to provide critical information for the prosecution of a U.S. trafficking case involving Azerbaijani victims in 2005. Reports of border guards and law enforcement officials receiving bribes to facilitate trafficking continued. The government established an anti-corruption commission last year to address pervasive corruption. Protection The Government of Azerbaijan continued to provide an inadequate level of assistance and support to victims in 2005. During the reporting period, the government failed to develop or implement a formal screening and referral mechanism to identify and assist victims. Although officials informally referred victims to state healthcare facilities, these facilities lack the capacity to provide the required specialized treatment or information for victims of trafficking. Some police referred victims to NGOs; however, a lack of adequate shelters in Azerbaijan forced NGO workers to use their own homes to shelter victims. The government made significant progress constructing and renovating a new trafficking shelter during the reporting period; the shelter is expected to open in spring 2006. Prevention The Government of Azerbaijan established two nation-wide trafficking hotlines in 2005. During the reporting period, the government conducted joint seminars with NGOs on trafficking throughout Azerbaijan, demonstrating increased interaction with civil society on trafficking. The State Committee on Women, Children and Families incorporated trafficking prevention into its education and trainings that targeted women from all sectors of society. The anti-trafficking coordinator led the government's inter-agency task force in coordinating communication among agencies. (source: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/65988.htm)

“We shall be witness of the US operation in Iran; the only thing that halts the United States now is a complicated condition of the US Armed Forces in Iraq,” political analyst Levon Melik-Shakhnazaryan announced at a news conference yesterday, expressing his bewilderment by the fact that the has not started yet. As a REGNUM correspondent reports, according to him, the USA is pursuing geopolitical targets and has done too much by now to crawfish. As the political analyst said, in case the military operation is started, Armenia will have to take a neutral position, as on the one hand, Iran is counterweighed by a very strong Western influence, on the other hand, “the USA comes and goes, but neighbors are always here.” Elaborating on the subject of the USA-Iran military confrontation, Levon Melik-Shakhnazaryan noted that Baku will suffer most from the war, as Azerbaijan will be struck first. “If the United State use the Azerbaijani territory for attacking Iran, Tehran will unconditionally discuss the question of seizing Baku,” the political expert said. In this case, the question of rescuing Azerbaijan will become acute. At least, Washington’s military action must be expected before the presidential election, the analyst believes. (IA REGNUM)

15 June 2007 Azeri Radar Would Not Replace Czech Anti-Missile Site, U.S. Says NATO allies plan to assess missile defense systems by February 2008 By Vince Crawley USINFO Staff Writer Washington -- NATO's 26 nations have agreed to assess by February 2008 the political and military implications of planned missile- defense systems in Europe, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said alliance members have voiced no criticism of the U.S. portion of the plan. Gates also told reporters June 14 that an Azerbaijan radar site, proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, would complement, not replace, an anti-missile radar system the United States is negotiating to build in the Czech Republic. Gates visited Brussels, Belgium, June 14-15 for a scheduled meeting of NATO defense ministers, as well as a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. "I was very explicit in the meeting [of the NATO-Russia Council] that we saw the Azeri radar as an additional capability, that we intended to proceed with the radar, the X-band radar in the Czech Republic," Gates said. The United States is in talks with the Polish and Czech governments to host 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic to defend Europe and North America against intercontinental missiles launched from the Middle East. (See related article.) Russia has expressed concerns that the missile-defense system could upset the long-standing nuclear deterrence posture in Europe. But the United States says the proposed 10 interceptors are too few to be effective against Russia's numerous warheads. At the annual Group of Eight Summit in early June, Putin made a surprise offer of partnership with the U.S. and European missile defense system, proposing to share data from a Soviet-era air-defense radar system leased by Russia and located in Azerbaijan. Reaction to the proposal has been mixed in Azerbaijan, where some worry the radar site could be seen as too provocative for neighboring Iran. (See related article.) "I appreciated Putin's recognition of the potential missile threat from the Middle East and welcomed his proposal last week to share radar data from Azerbaijan," Gates told reporters. Throughout the Brussels meetings, Gates said he did not hear criticism by allies of U.S. anti-missile plans in Poland and the Czech Republic. "There were no criticisms by any of the NATO allies of our missile- system proposals or of our moving forward," Gates said. "There obviously is interest in trying to encourage the Russians to participate with us, to make the system complimentary to NATO short- range missile defenses." Gates said NATO and the United States would continue discussing how to make their missile-defense systems work together in a complimentary way. On June 14, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer released a statement saying the alliance will study the possibility of "bolting" NATO and U.S. missile-defense systems together to ensure that all 26 allies are protected effectively from future threats. De Hoop Scheffer said the allies plan to assess by February 2008 the effects of U.S. anti-missile plans in Europe and how these plans can be coordinated with NATO's own anti-missile plans. "In essence, the alliance will pursue a three-track approach," de Hoop Scheffer said in the statement. The three tracks include: continue the ongoing NATO project to develop by 2010 a theater missile-defense for protecting deployed troops; assess the full implications of the U.S. system; and continue existing cooperation with Russia on theater missile defense, as well as consultation on related issues. De Hoop Scheffer stressed that missile-defense issues are based on two key principles: the "indivisibility of security" and that there cannot be "A or B" NATO members in terms of protection from missile threats. A transcript of Gates' remarks to reporters after the Brussels meeting is available on the Defense Department Web site. The full text of a NATO statement on the Brussels meeting, as well as audio and video links to meeting events, is available on the NATO Web site. (USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)