To the Government of Azerbaijan, including the Baku City Executive Authority and the State Committee on Property

• Halt all further expropriations, evictions, and demolitions until they can be carried out in a fair and transparent manner and are consistent with Azerbaijani national law and international human rights law.
• Any future evictions of homeowners who refuse to leave their properties should only be conducted in accordance with Azerbaijani and international law. Any evictions should be regulated by a court order and conducted with full respect for the bodily integrity and dignity of those evicted.
  • The authorities should in no circumstances begin to demolish or disassemble buildings in which people continue to live.
• Ensure protection of all private property when carrying out evictions and demolitions.
• Provide homeowners and property owners who may lose their property for development with:
  • clear information about the legal basis for the expropriation,
  • the timing of the expropriation,
  • their compensation and resettlement options, and
  • the means of appealing decisions.

This information should be provided in a timely manner.

• Provide all property owners affected by expropriation access to an effective complaint mechanism that addresses grievances in a clear and transparent manner and a remedy. In accordance with the right to an effective remedy guaranteed by article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights, an effective grievance mechanism should also include compensation for harm.
• Ensure that mechanisms to provide homeowners with compensation for expropriated property are fair and transparent, with a clear basis in law.
  • The Baku City Executive Authority and the State Committee on Property should establish a mechanism whereby each property affected by expropriation and demolition will be subject to an independent appraisal and that compensation to individual property owners accurately reflects the market value of each property.
  • The compensation calculation for individual properties should take into account the full and actual sale value of each property and is not dependent on one fixed price.
  • The compensation calculation should include the additional expenses established in article 31.7 of the Housing Code.
  • Expropriation of properties should not serve to deny property owners their property rights. If property owners are resettled, they should be assured full title to the new properties.
  • Housing designated for resettlement must comply with all housing code and other relevant standards for safety, hygiene, and engineering integrity.
• Publish all relevant legal acts and other official documents regarding city development plans, and conduct awareness campaigns about any city development plans.
• Hold regular, well-publicized public meetings where the plans for city development are discussed and open to public comment. Consider fully public concerns and ideas when developing and realizing development plans.
• State officials should not engage in hostile and intimidating behavior.
• Law enforcement officials should receive appropriate professional training on how to respect the rights of homeowners, residents, monitors, and the public in general when carrying out law enforcement actions in support of evictions.

To the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan

• Initiate an independent inquiry into why the expropriations and demolitions in central Baku have been allowed to take place in the manner described in this report given that they clearly violate Azerbaijan’s constitution and national laws and international human rights law.
  • As part of this inquiry, the authorities should investigate all violations of the right to private property, including the broken, ruined, and missing property removed from homes and apartments as a result of forcible evictions.
  • Investigate the role of the Ministry of Interior officials in ordering and carrying out evictions of residents from their homes and detentions of residents as a component of the eviction.
  • Investigate violations of the right to private and family life and instances of inhuman and degrading treatment.
  • Provide compensation for those evicted in ways that violated their rights and failed to respect their safety and dignity.

To the European Broadcasting Union

While the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s statedposition is that the evictions taking place in the vicinity of the Baku Crystal Hall are not linked to the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU nevertheless should utilize its engagement with the Azerbaijani authorities to:

• Call on the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure that no further human rights abuses take place with respect to Azerbaijan’s preparation to host the Eurovision contest, including in the vicinity of the Baku Crystal Hall.
• Call on the Azerbaijani authorities to resolve, in a fair and transparent manner, all complaints related to expropriations, evictions, and demolitions near the Baku Crystal Hall.
• Make public all measures taken to engage with the government to press for an end to abuses.

To the European Broadcasting Union Members

• Call on the EBU, including the Eurovision Reference Group, to make clear with the Azerbaijani authorities that expropriations, evictions, and demolitions near the Baku Crystal Hall risk casting a shadow over the Eurovision Song Contest and should be halted.
• Call on the EBU, including the Eurovision Reference Group, to make clear with the Azerbaijani authorities that no further human rights abuses should take place with respect to Azerbaijan’s preparation to host the Eurovision contest, including in the vicinity of the Baku Crystal Hall, and that the authorities should resolve, in a fair and transparent manner, all complaints related to expropriations, evictions, and demolitions near the Baku Crystal Hall.

To Azerbaijan’s Bilateral Partners, including the European Union, individual European States, and the United States

• Insist that the Azerbaijani authorities halt all further expropriations, evictions, and demolitions until they can be carried out in a fair and transparent manner and are consistent with Azerbaijani national law and Azerbaijan’s international human rights obligations.
• Insist that the government of Azerbaijan ensure a fair and transparent expropriation and a lawful compensation process for homeowners who lose their homes.
• Make Azerbaijan’s addressing these concerns an explicit requirement in the context of enhanced relations, including through the Association Agreements with the EU and in the context of deepening engagement with and assistance from the US.
• Provide technical assistance as necessary to the Baku City Executive Authority, the State Committee on Property, and law enforcement organs to ensure proper training in the conduct of expropriations for legitimate state needs and evictions of homeowners that respect human rights and human dignity.
• Continue to support nongovernmental organizations and activists documenting illegal expropriations, evictions and house demolitions.

To The Council of Europe

• The Committee of Ministers should urge the Azerbaijani authorities to implement the recommendations by the Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg, outlined in his September 2011 observations, which included recommendations regarding the government’s campaign of expropriations and evictions.

To the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

• Call on the Azerbaijani government to halt all further expropriations, evictions, and demolitions until they can be carried out in a fair and transparent manner and are consistent with Azerbaijani national law and Azerbaijan’s international human rights obligations.
• Ensure that no form of support, whether financial, diplomatic, or technical, is used to assist in forced evictions, expropriations, or demolitions that contravene national and international law.
• Do not undertake new programs in Azerbaijan that may present a risk of forced evictions until the government demonstrates that all resettlements are carried out in a fair and transparent manner and are consistent with Azerbaijani national law and Azerbaijan’s international human rights obligations.

Azerbaijani City Renovations Bring Expropriations and Demolitions BAKU, Azerbaijan – A government led “beautification” project in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, has resulted in forced evictions, house demolitions, and illegal expropriations. The project was begun in 2009 to address what President Ilham Aliyev has called an “issue…of biggest concern to people,” the growing disrepair of the capital city and its suburbs. The long-term plan began with the laying of roads and the building of new infrastructure. Water and sanitation are to be improved, as are the condition of schools and cultural monuments. Ilham Aliyev cited the renovations as a necessary step in familiarizing the rest of the world with Azerbaijan, and bettering their position internationally. In the continuation of the project, the government has begun to expropriate and demolish the homes of many of its private citizens living in the city center.

Human Rights Watch puts the number of displaced homeowners and residents somewhere from in the hundreds to possibly the thousands, creating widespread violations of private property rights. The “so-called ‘beautification’ project…isn’t just destroying homes in Baku, it’s destroying people’s lives,” said Jane Buchanan, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Azerbaijani authorities need to put an immediate halt to forced expropriations, evictions, and demolitions in Baku.” On 13 June 2011 police were called to a building slated for demolition after the owners and tenants of the building painted a message on the interior walls: “This is private property and the destruction of this house violates the Constitution, and the European Convention on Human Rights.” The house is owned by Leyla Yunus, a leading human rights defender in Azerbaijan, and it offices numerous human rights groups that provide crucial legal and other support to victims of human rights abuses in Azerbaijan. Its destruction would be a huge blow to Azerbaijani human rights. There have been reports from other Azerbaijani homeowners that demolition crews have begun demolishing some homes with the residents still inside. Other residents have been forced out by police and detained only to come home to a pile of rubble with most of their possessions destroyed and valuables missing. Compensation in many of the cases has been far below market value for property in Central Baku. Authorities have designated a price of 1,500 manat (US $1,900) per square meter, regardless of the land’s use, age, or condition. Independent appraisals have found the land to be worth around 4,000 manat (US $5,605) per square meter. Compensation does not include the destruction of possessions. There is no basis for the expropriations in Azerbaijani law, which guarantees the rights to private property, and allows expropriations only in limited cases with a court order.

http://impunitywatch.com/?p=18097

More information: https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/02/29/they-took-everything-me/forced-evictions-unlawful-expropriations-and-house

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