AZERBAIJAN: Human Rights Watch says dozens of families had been forcibly evicted from their houses for the government's Baku development project ahead of the May 2012 Eurovision contest in oil-rich Azerbaijan

Record ID: 218148

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: Human Rights Watch says dozens of families had been forcibly evicted from their houses for the government's Baku development project ahead of the May 2012 Eurovision contest in oil-rich Azerbaijan
  • Date: 29th February 2012
  • Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (FEBRUARY 29, 2012) (REUTERS) BLOCK OF FLATS BEING DEMOLISHED AGAINST BACKGROUND OF HUGE AZERBAIJANI FLAG VARIOUS OF DEMOLITION IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 15th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Entertainment,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5HMTH3CLUOM3X0UMQXUPO3XRV
  • Story Text: The demolition of houses and eviction of residents in Azeri capital Baku for urban development ahead of May 2012 Eurovision contest in the oil-rich country was carried out in violation of human rights, a human rights group said on Wednesday (February 29).
    Enriched with the revenues flowing from oil and gas sales, authorities under Azeri President Ilham Aliyev are transforming the capital Baku from an ex-Soviet backwater to a gleaming coastal capital in the region.
    The New-York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that dozens of families had been forcibly evicted without warning or in the middle of night in four Baku areas.
    "Human rights research in a number of neighbourhoods in Baku has found that in a course of its redevelopment campaign the government has violated the rights of many citizens who are being evicted for the government's new construction projects. And one of the neighbourhoods in which we documented this was the National Flag Square, which is the home of the Baku Crystal Palace, which many people know is to be used as the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest which Azerbaijan will host in May 2012," said Jane Buchanan, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at HRW at the news conference in Baku.
    Critics say Baku's transformation, paid for by petrodollars that have driven rapid economic growth over the past decade, masks a serious regression in democratic rights under Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar in 2003.
    "And in many cases they challenge the government's actions in court and remained in their homes hoping to receive fair compensation for their properties. And irrespective of their attempts to challenge the government's actions, the government nevertheless forced them out of their homes. And they did it in several ways," Jane Buchanan said.
    To make room for the new development, some old neighbourhoods have been swept away in a demolition campaign, which intensified after May 2011, when Azerbaijan won the Eurovision contest and as a result became host to the May 2012 event.
    HRW has cited cases of apartment buildings torn down while court challenges were still pending, their residents detained at night by police.
    The building, housing the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) as well as an anti-landmine group and a women's crisis centre, was torn down after dark in August 2011 without warning.
    The evictions have been carried out for variety of projects, including construction of parks, roads, luxury housing, a parking garage, a shopping center as well as the modern, glass-encased arena for the Eurovision contest.
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