“THEY TOOK EVERYTHING from ME” RIGHTS Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions WATCH in Azerbaijan’S Capital
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HUMAN “THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME” RIGHTS Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions WATCH in Azerbaijan’s Capital “They Took Everything from Me” Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions in Azerbaijan’s Capital Copyright © 2012 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-868-6 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN: 1-56432-868-6 “They Took Everything from Me” Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions in Azerbaijan’s Capital Summary and Key Recommendations ................................................................................. 1 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 21 I. Background ................................................................................................................... 24 Azerbaijan’s Political Landscape ............................................................................................. 24 Hydrocarbon Wealth and Construction Boom ......................................................................... 26 Eurovision Song Contest and Related Construction ................................................................ 28 II. Development, Expropriations, and Human Rights ......................................................... 32 III. Forced Evictions and Demolitions of Homes in Central Baku ......................................... 34 Forced Evictions Immediately Prior to Demolitions .................................................................. 35 Illegal Detention as a Component of Forced Eviction .............................................................. 46 Forced Eviction through Dismantling of Homes and Cutting of Services to Homes in Which Residents Continue to Live ...................................................................................................... 50 Threats and Intimidation of Homeowners ................................................................................ 57 Lack of Transparency ............................................................................................................. 60 IV. Forced Evictions and Expropriations in Azerbaijani and International Law .................... 61 Forced Evictions under Azerbaijani and International Law ....................................................... 61 Expropriation under Azerbaijani and International Law ............................................................ 63 V. Failure to Provide Alternative Accommodation or Adequate Compensation ..................... 71 Forced Sale at an Arbitrary Price .............................................................................................. 72 Arbitrary and Inaccurate Measurement of Homes as the Basis for Compensation ..................... 73 Failure to Provide Accommodation of Commensurate Size and Quality and Denial of Property Rights ..................................................................................................................................... 75 International Law regarding Compensation Mechanisms ......................................................... 78 VI. Protection and Redress ............................................................................................... 80 Demolition of Homes in Violation of Injunctions and Despite Pending Lawsuits ...................... 80 Excessive Delays in Trials Related to Property Claims ............................................................. 82 Complaints to Other State Agencies ........................................................................................ 83 VII. The Role of Azerbaijan’s International Partners........................................................... 84 Criticism of Expropriations, Evictions, and Demolitions ........................................................... 85 The Crucial Role of the European Union and the United States ................................................ 86 Multilateral Development Banks Silent ................................................................................... 87 The European Broadcasting Union ......................................................................................... 88 VIII. Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 91 To the Government of Azerbaijan, including the Baku City Executive Authority and the State Committee on Property ........................................................................................................... 91 To the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan .................................................................... 92 To the European Broadcasting Union ...................................................................................... 93 To the European Broadcasting Union Members ....................................................................... 93 To Azerbaijan’s Bilateral Partners, including the European Union, individual European States, and the United States ............................................................................................................ 94 To The Council of Europe ........................................................................................................ 94 To the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ......................................................................................................................... 94 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 96 Summary and Key Recommendations Human Rights Watch | February 2012 A demolished house in the area behind Heidar Aliyev Hall, in central Baku. The Azerbaijani authorities have forcibly evicted dozens of families in this area without fair compensation under the Baku municipality’s program of redevelopment, including construction of a parking lot, a park, pedestrian street, office space, and luxury housing. © 2012 Human Rights Watch “THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME” Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions in Azerbaijan’s Capital Since 2008, the government of Azerbaijan has undertaken a sweeping program of urban renewal in Baku, the capital of this oil-rich country in the South Caucasus. In the course of this program, the authorities have illegally expropriated hundreds of properties, primarily apartments and homes in middle-class neighborhoods, to be demolished to make way for parks, roads, a shopping center, and luxury residential buildings. The government has forcibly evicted homeowners, often without warning or in the middle of the night, and at times in clear disregard for residents’ health and safety, in order to demolish their homes. It has refused to provide homeowners fair compensation based on the market values of properties, many of which are in highly-desirable locations and neighborhoods. This report, based on interviews with affected homeowners One of the four neighborhoods described in this report is and residents, documents human rights violations committed Bayil, the seaside location of the National Flag Square and the in the course of the government’s expropriations, forced Baku Crystal Hall, the venue for the May 2012 Eurovision Song evictions, and demolitions in four neighborhoods of Baku. Contest. The government’s ambitious plans to develop this These neighborhoods have typically been home to middle area intensified after May 2011, when Azerbaijan won the class Azerbaijanis: teachers, librarians, medical doctors, contest and therefore became host to the 2012 event. The military officers, and others, some of whom have inherited Eurovision Song Contest is an annual televised competition their homes from their parents and others who managed to featuring music acts from 56 countries in and around Europe. save and buy apartments in desirable locations. The human For the government of Azerbaijan, the visibility of the event rights violations documented by Human Rights Watch relate to provides an opportunity to showcase Baku to thousands of the process by which homes and properties were slated for visitors and millions of television viewers. expropriation and compensation was assessed, the manner The main venue for the contest will be the Baku Crystal Hall, in which expropriations, evictions, and demolitions were a modern, glass-encased arena overlooking the Caspian Sea. implemented, and the lack of any effective legal recourse or