COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION REPORT OF AZERBAIJAN

MORNING

HR/CERD/99/57/Rev.1
19 August 1999




Adopts Recommendations on Report of Romania


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded consideration of a report of Azerbaijan on that country’s efforts to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, hearing explanations from a Government delegation on legislative measures taken to protect the rights, languages, and cultures of ethnic minorities, among other things.

The Committee will issue its formal, written observations and recommendations on the report of Azerbaijan towards the end of its four-week session, which concludes 27 August. A six-person high-level Government delegation was on hand yesterday and this morning to answer questions raised by Committee Experts. As one of 155 States parties to the Convention, Azerbaijan must submit periodic reports to the Committee on its compliance with the terms of the treaty.

Also this morning, the Committee adopted recommendations on a report of Romania discussed earlier in its summer session. Among other things, the Committee urged the Romanian Government to take measures to prevent and punish racist practices by the mass media. The Committee is expected to finish adopting its concluding observations on Romania this afternoon.

At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Chairperson Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr told Committee Experts that he had received a letter from the Australian Permanent Mission concerning press release HR/CERD/199/52 of 16 August. He reiterated that the press release was not an official document of the Committee and as such the Committee had nothing to do with it. The Chairman said copies of the letter would be distributed to Committee Experts.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will consider draft concluding observations on reports from Romania and Iraq presented earlier in its summer session.

Discussion on report of Azerbaijan

Responding to a number of questions raised by Committee Experts during the previous meeting, members of the Azerbaijani Government delegation said that according to a 1989 population census, there had been 392,300 Russians and 390,500 Armenians in the country. However, since no census was conducted during the re-establishment of Azerbaijan's independence, it was not possible to provide figures on the current situation. It was expected that by the end of this year official statistics on the breakdown of the ethnic composition of the population would be established, the delegation said.

The delegation said that more than 20,000 Armenians of mixed families lived in the capital city, Baku. The allegation made by a Committee Expert of ill-treatment of Armenians living in the country was unfounded. With regard to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was fully under the control of the neighbouring State, the authorities of Azerbaijan could not establish the number of Armenians in a region occupied by Armenia, the delegation said.

Concerning the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani officials said that Armenia had committed an act of aggression and had occupied Azerbaijani territory. The armed forces of Armenia had occupied 20 per cent of the total territory of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and territory four times greater than the area of the Nagorno-Karabakh region itself. There had been war between the countries and despite the consequences of the war and the cease-fire, order had been maintained in Azerbaijan according to law. Azerbaijan was of the view that the highest form of autonomy suggested for Nagorno-Karabakh should be under the sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

With regard to information brought to the attention of the Experts by non-governmental organizations alleging discrimination against minorities, the delegation said that persons of Russian origin had not been dismissed from their jobs because of difficulties in speaking Azeri. Various legislative acts protected the right to work and respected the right to use other languages. Relevant laws also guaranteed the right of every person under Azerbaijani jurisdiction to work. Any illegal dismissal based on ethnic grounds was punishable in accordance with criminal provisions.

The delegation said that following the breakup of the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan had opted for a “soft transition” by keeping many Governmental structures as they were before. However, by introducing new legislative acts, the Government had been changing the structure to fit the actual needs of the population and the State. In the course of this year alone, the Government had enacted legislation on complaints of illegal acts against peoples' rights and freedoms, as well as social-protection measures.

As regarded small ethnic groups, the delegation said that historically there were many small ethnic groups living in the country in compact fashion. Russians usually lived in urban areas while other ethnic groups lived in rural areas. In addition, a law on migration had been elaborated in 1998 with the direct participation of the International Organization on Migration (IOM).

With respect to a Presidential decree on the protection of rights and freedoms and on State support for the promotion of the languages and cultures of national minorities, the delegation said that the decree, which was published in 1992, had since been reflected in various activities of the Government. The situation of ethnic minorities could not be compared to the Soviet era. Today, all ethnic minorities had the opportunity to exercise


their rights and conserve and develop their distinct cultures. In addition, the Government had facilitated possibilities for the minorities to learn in their own ethnic languages.

The delegation also told the Committee that in the country's Parliament -- the Mejlis – there were Russians, Ukrainians and other minorities. For their representation in public offices, there was no legal limitation, said the delegation.

Speaking on the independence of judges, the delegation said the State was still suffering from 70 years of Soviet rule. The old practice of "telephone law", which allowed the executive and other members of the Communist Party to intervene in the business of the courts, had now been eradicated through strict observance of new law on separation of State powers. The rule of law was being respected and contempt of court was being avoided though a law issued in 1997. As to the five-year term in office for judges, the delegation said that in certain areas judges were appointed for ten years. However, they could not be removed from or transferred to other posts without their consent. Since the country was moving through economic difficulties, the salaries for judges were not as high as they should be.

Concerning the use of language in courts, the delegation said court proceedings were conducted in the official language of the Republic or in the language spoken by the majority of the population in a locality. The Government provided interpretation services free of charge.

Regarding a new law on citizenship, the delegation said that for the first time, Azerbaijan had abandoned the idea of deprivation of citizenship which had been practiced under Soviet legislation. Any child born in the territory of Stateless parents would automatically become an Azerbaijani citizen.

MICHAEL P. BANTON, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur for the report of Azerbaijan, said he noted the determination of the Government to implement the provisions of the Convention. He said that recently born democracies had been keen to pursue their dialogues with the Committee in a new spirit. He also noted the Government's efforts towards ensuring the separation of State powers. Mr. Banton wished to see the establishment of the demographic breakdown of the population according to ethnicity when a new census was conducted. The Expert also noted that United Nations human-rights standards were being reflected in some newly born democracies such as Azerbaijan.

Mr.Banton requested the Government to include in its next periodic report the outcome of the implementation of the series of legislative measures. He said the absence of registered grievances was not a sign of the absence of racial discrimination. He urged the Government to deposit an instrument declaring that it recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals within its jurisdiction claiming to be victims of violations by the State of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.

Concluding Observations on Romania

In its concluding observations on the report of Romania, which the Committee continued adopting paragraph-by-paragraph, it suggested that Romania should take measure to prevent and punish racist practices in the mass media. It recommended that measures on affirmative action should be adopted in favour of the Roma population, especially in the areas of education and vocational training, with a view to placing Roma on an equal footing with the rest of the population in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, removing prejudices against the Roma population and enhancing the Roma population’s capacity to asserting its rights.