The Azerbaijan constitution provides for a republic with a
presidential form of government. Legislative authority is
vested in the Milli Mejlis (parliament). In practice the
president dominated the executive, legislative, and judicial
branches of government. November 2010 Milli Mejlis elections
did not meet a number of key standards of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for democratic
elections. Although there were more than 50 political
parties, the president’s party, the Yeni Azerbaijan Party,
dominated the political system. Ethnic Armenian separatists,
with Armenia’s support, continued to control most of the
Nagorno-Karabakh region of the country and seven surrounding
Azerbaijani territories. The government did not exercise any
control over developments in those territories. Security
forces reported to civilian authorities.
The most significant human rights problem during the year
was the restriction of freedoms of expression, assembly, and
association. For example, throughout the year, but
especially in the spring, several political protests calling
for democratic reform and the government’s resignation were
forcefully dispersed, and 15 protesters were sentenced to 18
months to three years in jail for their participation in
such protests. Applications to hold protests in Baku were
repeatedly denied throughout the year. A second significant
human rights problem involved the fairness of the
administration of justice due to reports of strong executive
branch influence over the judiciary, lack of due process,
politically motivated imprisonments, measures against
independent lawyers, and reports of torture and abuse in
police or military custody that resulted in at least nine
deaths. A third major problem area was the violation of
citizens’ property rights, including forced evictions and
demolitions on dubious eminent domain grounds, and
inadequate compensation.
Other human rights problems reported during the year
included generally harsh prison conditions that in some
cases were life threatening. Arbitrary arrest and detention,
particularly of individuals considered by the government to
be political opponents, and lengthy pretrial detention
continued. The government continued to imprison persons for
political reasons, although authorities released some of
these individuals during the year. The government continued
to restrict the religious freedom of some unregistered
Muslim and Christian groups. Pervasive corruption, including
in the judiciary and law enforcement organizations,
continued. Cases of violence against women were also
reported. Trafficking in persons remained a problem.
The government failed to take steps to prosecute or punish
most officials who committed human rights abuses. Impunity
remained a problem.