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AZERBAIJAN URGED TO STOP FORCED EVICTIONS
http://asbarez.com/109852/azerbaijan-urged-to-stop-forced-evictions/
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
A building in Baku that was forcibly demolished and its residents
evicted
BERLIN-The Azerbaijani authorities should immediately stop its
campaign of forced evictions and demolitions in the capital, Baku,
Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The government should also guarantee
fair compensation to homeowners and residents, including those
already evicted.
The controversial Winter Garden opens the week of May 6, 2013, in
central Baku, where hundreds of residents were evicted to make way
for the park, shops, and a parking lot. The authorities have planned
a week of celebrations and events, including a speech by President
Ilham Aliyev on May 10, marking the birthday of his late father,
former President Heydar Aliyev.
"The opening of the Winter Garden is unfortunately far from a
celebration for those forcibly evicted to make way for it," said Jane
Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights
Watch. "The authorities should never have undertaken its sweeping
program of illegal evictions, which displaced hundreds of families
and left many of them in extremely difficult circumstances."
Human Rights Watch has been documenting the illegal expropriations,
forced evictions, and house demolitions in the Winter Garden area
behind the Heydar Aliyev Hall and in other parts of Baku since April
2011, including in a February 2012 report, "They Took Everything
from Me."
The evictions and demolitions began in 2009 and have displaced
hundreds- if not thousands- of families. Human Rights Watch has found
that some people are evicted without warning or in the middle of
the night. The authorities often cut off services to houses slated
for demolition, making them uninhabitable and compelling residents
to leave. Then the homes are demolished, sometimes with residents'
possessions inside. The government has refused to provide homeowners
with fair compensation for the properties, many of which are in highly
desirable locations.
Homeowners continued to face forced eviction in the lead-up to the
park's opening. On March 28, Baku city authorities forcibly evicted a
family of five from their home in the Winter Garden area. The owner,
"Shahla," told Human Rights Watch that officials from the Baku
Mayor's office verbally informed her in November that they planned to
expropriate her apartment and evict her family by May in advance of the
Winter Garden opening. She received no official written notification
and is not aware of any court order authorizing the eviction.
The authorities offered her 1,500 Azeri manat (US$1,900) per square
meter for her apartment, which she believed was low, particularly
given the central location of her home. Independent evaluations priced
Shahla's apartment at no less than 2,500 manat (US$3,185) per square
meter. She repeatedly appealed to the authorities, sending letters
and meeting with Baku mayor's office officials for a review of her
compensation, without success.
Workers dismantled parts of the building beginning in January.
Shahla's family, including her 93-year-old mother who suffers from
Parkinson's disease, remained in their apartment building when workers
began to dismantle it on March 24. Soon, electricity, water, and gas
services were cut off and workers used bulldozers to bring down parts
of the building.
"I resisted the eviction," she told Human Rights Watch. "I was alone
in the whole building. The workers tried to enter my apartment from
the balcony and then damaged the roof. Others tried to damage the
floor from the empty apartment below. ...Water seeped in from the
ceiling from the holes they made." Ultimately, Shahla felt no option
but to leave. The mayor's office provided a truck to relocate her
belongings, but she was forced to abandon some furniture and other
possessions, since she did not have alternative housing immediately
available. After many appeals to the mayor's office, Shahla later
secured a temporary apartment, with its financial support.
"The already painful experience of being evicted was made that much
worse for Shahla and her family by the authorities' indifference
to her appeals for help and fair treatment," Buchanan said. "The
authorities should ensure that families like Shahla's don't suffer
needlessly for the government's decision to transform central Baku.
All residents facing eviction need to be treated with dignity and
their rights should be respected."
In 2013, the authorities extended the demolition area related to the
Winter Garden to include many additional streets beyond the initial
plans for development of the park. In one striking case documented in
the Human Rights Watch report, a homeowner forcibly evicted from her
home in late 2011 in the heart of the Winter Garden area, is now facing
eviction for a second time. In an interview with Human Rights Watch,
Bashkhanum Abbasova, a 63-year-old retired university lecturerwho
lives with her two sons, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren,
told Human Rights Watch that, using her savings and the compensation
she was awarded for her previous apartment, she purchased a four-room
apartment several streets away from the Winter Garden. She renovated
it before moving in. In late 2012, officials from the mayor's office
verbally informed Abbasova that her new home would be demolished
by mid-2013. Abbasova has received no written notification about
the expropriation.
"Officials from the Baku mayor's office warned us to pack up for
eviction," she told Human Rights Watch. "They said that these houses
spoil the good view of the Winter Park and so they'll be destroyed."
She has been offered 1,500 manat ($1,900) per square meter for
her second apartment. Abbasova saidthat market prices in apartment
buildings near hers are between 2,500 and 3,500 manat ($3,185 and
$5,240).
Baku city officials have not made public their plans for demolitions
and reconstruction. When selecting a new location to buy an apartment
after her eviction, Abbasova specifically sought information about
the city's plans and was assured that the neighborhood she selected
would not be affected.
"Prior to purchasing the house, I double-checked with the Baku mayor's
office to see if there were any plans to demolish the houses where I
planned to buy," she said. "Senior officials assured me that the area
... would not be destroyed. The houses were not in the city plan list
[of houses to be demolished]."
"The homeowners in Winter Garden's shadow have been completely subject
to the whim of the authorities, unable to plan for major life decisions
such as renting or buying a home," Buchanan said. "At the very least,
the authorities should immediately make all city development plans
public and hold regular, well-publicized public hearings where
residents can receive accurate information and share their views."
In a 2012 meeting with Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijani government
officials denied that the forced evictions in Baku were unlawful. A
letter sent to President Ilham Aliyev in June 2011 regarding the
demolitions remains unanswered. Governments have the right to
expropriate private property and evict homeowners and residents in
certain limited circumstances: solely to promote the general welfare
and only in accordance with national law and international standards.
There is no basis for the Baku expropriations and evictions in
Azerbaijani law, which guarantees the right to private property and
allows the government to expropriate property only in limited cases,
such as for national defense, roads, or communications infrastructure.
A court order is required to expropriate property. National law
requires the government to purchase at market value any properties
it expropriates and pay an additional 20 percent of the market value
of the home as compensation for the owner's trouble.
The expropriation and demolition of properties in central Baku also
violates Azerbaijan's obligations under the European Convention on
Human Rights, which explicitly protects against unlawful expropriation
of property. According to the jurisprudence of the European Court
of Human Rights (ECtHR), any deprivation of property, including by
expropriation, must comply with the principle of lawfulness, be in the
public interest, and pursue a legitimate aim in a proportionate manner.
The ECtHR has also held that failing to pay compensation reasonably
related to the value of the property is an excessive interference with
an individual's rights. In addition, in many cases of expropriation,
the only appropriate sum deemed to be "reasonably related to the
value of the property" will in fact be full compensation- that is
the market price of the property, plus costs or losses incurred as
a result of the expropriation.
The ongoing expropriation and demolition of properties in central
Baku violates both Azerbaijani law and Azerbaijan's international
human rights commitments, Human Rights Watch said.
http://asbarez.com/109852/azerbaijan-urged-to-stop-forced-evictions/
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
A building in Baku that was forcibly demolished and its residents
evicted
BERLIN-The Azerbaijani authorities should immediately stop its
campaign of forced evictions and demolitions in the capital, Baku,
Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The government should also guarantee
fair compensation to homeowners and residents, including those
already evicted.
The controversial Winter Garden opens the week of May 6, 2013, in
central Baku, where hundreds of residents were evicted to make way
for the park, shops, and a parking lot. The authorities have planned
a week of celebrations and events, including a speech by President
Ilham Aliyev on May 10, marking the birthday of his late father,
former President Heydar Aliyev.
"The opening of the Winter Garden is unfortunately far from a
celebration for those forcibly evicted to make way for it," said Jane
Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights
Watch. "The authorities should never have undertaken its sweeping
program of illegal evictions, which displaced hundreds of families
and left many of them in extremely difficult circumstances."
Human Rights Watch has been documenting the illegal expropriations,
forced evictions, and house demolitions in the Winter Garden area
behind the Heydar Aliyev Hall and in other parts of Baku since April
2011, including in a February 2012 report, "They Took Everything
from Me."
The evictions and demolitions began in 2009 and have displaced
hundreds- if not thousands- of families. Human Rights Watch has found
that some people are evicted without warning or in the middle of
the night. The authorities often cut off services to houses slated
for demolition, making them uninhabitable and compelling residents
to leave. Then the homes are demolished, sometimes with residents'
possessions inside. The government has refused to provide homeowners
with fair compensation for the properties, many of which are in highly
desirable locations.
Homeowners continued to face forced eviction in the lead-up to the
park's opening. On March 28, Baku city authorities forcibly evicted a
family of five from their home in the Winter Garden area. The owner,
"Shahla," told Human Rights Watch that officials from the Baku
Mayor's office verbally informed her in November that they planned to
expropriate her apartment and evict her family by May in advance of the
Winter Garden opening. She received no official written notification
and is not aware of any court order authorizing the eviction.
The authorities offered her 1,500 Azeri manat (US$1,900) per square
meter for her apartment, which she believed was low, particularly
given the central location of her home. Independent evaluations priced
Shahla's apartment at no less than 2,500 manat (US$3,185) per square
meter. She repeatedly appealed to the authorities, sending letters
and meeting with Baku mayor's office officials for a review of her
compensation, without success.
Workers dismantled parts of the building beginning in January.
Shahla's family, including her 93-year-old mother who suffers from
Parkinson's disease, remained in their apartment building when workers
began to dismantle it on March 24. Soon, electricity, water, and gas
services were cut off and workers used bulldozers to bring down parts
of the building.
"I resisted the eviction," she told Human Rights Watch. "I was alone
in the whole building. The workers tried to enter my apartment from
the balcony and then damaged the roof. Others tried to damage the
floor from the empty apartment below. ...Water seeped in from the
ceiling from the holes they made." Ultimately, Shahla felt no option
but to leave. The mayor's office provided a truck to relocate her
belongings, but she was forced to abandon some furniture and other
possessions, since she did not have alternative housing immediately
available. After many appeals to the mayor's office, Shahla later
secured a temporary apartment, with its financial support.
"The already painful experience of being evicted was made that much
worse for Shahla and her family by the authorities' indifference
to her appeals for help and fair treatment," Buchanan said. "The
authorities should ensure that families like Shahla's don't suffer
needlessly for the government's decision to transform central Baku.
All residents facing eviction need to be treated with dignity and
their rights should be respected."
In 2013, the authorities extended the demolition area related to the
Winter Garden to include many additional streets beyond the initial
plans for development of the park. In one striking case documented in
the Human Rights Watch report, a homeowner forcibly evicted from her
home in late 2011 in the heart of the Winter Garden area, is now facing
eviction for a second time. In an interview with Human Rights Watch,
Bashkhanum Abbasova, a 63-year-old retired university lecturerwho
lives with her two sons, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren,
told Human Rights Watch that, using her savings and the compensation
she was awarded for her previous apartment, she purchased a four-room
apartment several streets away from the Winter Garden. She renovated
it before moving in. In late 2012, officials from the mayor's office
verbally informed Abbasova that her new home would be demolished
by mid-2013. Abbasova has received no written notification about
the expropriation.
"Officials from the Baku mayor's office warned us to pack up for
eviction," she told Human Rights Watch. "They said that these houses
spoil the good view of the Winter Park and so they'll be destroyed."
She has been offered 1,500 manat ($1,900) per square meter for
her second apartment. Abbasova saidthat market prices in apartment
buildings near hers are between 2,500 and 3,500 manat ($3,185 and
$5,240).
Baku city officials have not made public their plans for demolitions
and reconstruction. When selecting a new location to buy an apartment
after her eviction, Abbasova specifically sought information about
the city's plans and was assured that the neighborhood she selected
would not be affected.
"Prior to purchasing the house, I double-checked with the Baku mayor's
office to see if there were any plans to demolish the houses where I
planned to buy," she said. "Senior officials assured me that the area
... would not be destroyed. The houses were not in the city plan list
[of houses to be demolished]."
"The homeowners in Winter Garden's shadow have been completely subject
to the whim of the authorities, unable to plan for major life decisions
such as renting or buying a home," Buchanan said. "At the very least,
the authorities should immediately make all city development plans
public and hold regular, well-publicized public hearings where
residents can receive accurate information and share their views."
In a 2012 meeting with Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijani government
officials denied that the forced evictions in Baku were unlawful. A
letter sent to President Ilham Aliyev in June 2011 regarding the
demolitions remains unanswered. Governments have the right to
expropriate private property and evict homeowners and residents in
certain limited circumstances: solely to promote the general welfare
and only in accordance with national law and international standards.
There is no basis for the Baku expropriations and evictions in
Azerbaijani law, which guarantees the right to private property and
allows the government to expropriate property only in limited cases,
such as for national defense, roads, or communications infrastructure.
A court order is required to expropriate property. National law
requires the government to purchase at market value any properties
it expropriates and pay an additional 20 percent of the market value
of the home as compensation for the owner's trouble.
The expropriation and demolition of properties in central Baku also
violates Azerbaijan's obligations under the European Convention on
Human Rights, which explicitly protects against unlawful expropriation
of property. According to the jurisprudence of the European Court
of Human Rights (ECtHR), any deprivation of property, including by
expropriation, must comply with the principle of lawfulness, be in the
public interest, and pursue a legitimate aim in a proportionate manner.
The ECtHR has also held that failing to pay compensation reasonably
related to the value of the property is an excessive interference with
an individual's rights. In addition, in many cases of expropriation,
the only appropriate sum deemed to be "reasonably related to the
value of the property" will in fact be full compensation- that is
the market price of the property, plus costs or losses incurred as
a result of the expropriation.
The ongoing expropriation and demolition of properties in central
Baku violates both Azerbaijani law and Azerbaijan's international
human rights commitments, Human Rights Watch said.