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Azerbaijan: Presidential Elections 2003

The Role of the International Community

Some international election monitoring organizations have also faced problems in monitoring the elections. The National Democratic Institute (NDI), a U.S. organization that has been present in Azerbaijan since 1995 and has monitored the 1998 presidential elections as well as the 1995 and 2000 parliamentary elections, has not been invited to monitor the current presidential elections. This is only the second time in NDI's history that this has occurred, the other case being the Zimbabwe election in 2000. NDI has been publicly critical of abuses during the past elections, although it has always done so in a constructive manner with detailed suggestions to the government. Other international organizations that carry out activities nearly identical to NDI's work, such as the International Republican Institute (IRI), also a U.S. organization, have been invited to monitor the election.

Among the most effective election monitoring mission currently operating in Azerbaijan is the OSCE/ODHIR observer mission, which consists of twenty long-term observers and more than 600 short-term observers who will be deployed shortly before the election.⁵¹ Opposition leaders report that flagrant abuses by the authorities have diminished somewhat since the deployment of the long-term members, and there has been a particularly significant drop in the use of administrative detentions of arrested opposition activists since OSCE/ODHIR members began to regularly visit police stations following arrests at demonstrations. Many of the opposition activists who were arrested since the deployment of the OSCE monitors stated that the police released them as soon as the monitors came to the police station, in one case telling the released activists to go "thank your OSCE friends" for the release.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe launched a twenty-four person monitoring mission on October 13. A pre-election delegation visited Azerbaijan in mid-September and issued a statement expressing concern about, among other things, the imbalance in the composition of the CEC, media bias favoring Heidar Aliev, and the absence of meaningful debate. The statement expressed hope that in the month that remained before the vote, "fair and equitable conditions" could still be created.⁵²

Local embassies of foreign governments have also played a role. The U.S. embassy has made a significant effort to prevent the abuses of previous elections from recurring, although most of its advocacy has been done privately with few public statements calling for specific improvements. U.S. embassy staff regularly attend opposition and government rallies to monitor abuses. In addition, the U.S. government and other foreign governments, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, have been the main financial backer of major technical election reforms, paying for thousands of transparent election boxes, as well as voter education posters, and media announcements aimed at voter education.

Notably, the Azerbaijan government continues to commit serious abuses against the opposition, often right in front of the international monitors who have been deployed. The international community has clearly demonstrated its commitment to free and fair elections through the diplomatic attention paid to the issue, the amount of money spent in technically improving the election process, and the deployment of international monitors. Despite this clear expression of international will, the government of Azerbaijan continues on its determined path to obstruct and abuse the opposition-perhaps the best indicator of all of the lack of commitment of the Azerbaijani ruling party to the principles of democracy and human rights.

51 Long-term monitors arrived approximately one month prior to election day; short-term monitors just days prior.

52 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, "Statement of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's `pre election' delegation to Azerbaijan, September 16, 2003.