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AZERBAIJAN: OMCT JOINS INITIATIVE ASKING SPONSORS OF BAKU 2015 TO RECONSIDER THEIR FINANCIAL ENGAGEMENT IN THE LIGHT OF SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS
World Organization Against Torture
Sept 23 2014
Letter to BP
5 pages / 312 KB
JOINT LETTER TO BP / NAR MOBILE / P&G / TISSOT/ MC DONALD'S AND TICKET HOUR
On behalf of the signatories below, and in the light of the media
news concerning the sponsorship agreement concluded between (BP /
Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's /
TicketHour) and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan, which
covers both the European Games scheduled for 2015, and the Games
Academy launched in April 2014, we would like to draw your attention
to and express our great concern at the current political situation
in Azerbaijan and your potential contribution and complicity in the
human rights violations taking place in that country.
In line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
business enterprises have responsibility to respect human rights,
also in their business relations, which requires them to:
(a) Avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts
through their own activities, and address such impacts when they
occur; and
(b) Seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that
are directly linked to their operations, products or services by
their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to
those impacts.
Enterprises are also required to 'know and show' how they meet this
responsibility, and in order to enable this, are expected to have in
place effective policies and processes appropriate to their size and
circumstances, including processes to enable the remediation of any
adverse human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute.
We understand (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) /
McDonald's / TicketHour) is engaged in the country both economically
and culturally, and probably perceives its sponsorship agreement as
element of its corporate social responsibility dimension. However,
given the potential negative human rights impacts that such financial
involvement (sponsorship) might have on the local community and human
rights defenders in Azerbaijan, we would like to query whether (BP
/ Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's /
TicketHour) has conducted a rigorous human rights due diligence
process, including a thorough human rights impact assessment of
its financial involvement with the Games organization (including
construction of new sport and related facilities and infrastructure),
before it entered into sponsorship agreement. In particular we would
like to query whether (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch
Group) / McDonald's / TicketHour):
took into consideration the political situation in the country,
particularly the long- lasting repression of civil society in the
country and the wave of arrest of human rights defenders in July and
August 2014?
analysed the impact of development of sports infrastructure on local
communities, particularly bearing in mind the unlawful evictions in
various Baku districts that have preceded this event e.g. for the
Eurovision contest?
required the Games organizer to conduct and disclose the results
of the human rights and environmental impact assessment of the new
building/infrastructure projects?
required inclusion of a human rights clause that would enable (BP
/ Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's /
TicketHour) to terminate the sponsorship agreement if the organization
of the Games gave rise to increased human rights violations?
has in place adequate policies, processes and grievance mechanisms
to enable those negatively affected by the Games, an organization
of which it is financially involved, to seek effective remedy and
justice in case adverse on human rights impacts and occur?
We believe that a global company like (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot
(part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's / TicketHour) has the potential
not only to impact great numbers of people around the world, but also
to exert important leverage over its business partners. In situations
like this when it is making a significant financial contribution,
it should use this leverage to require guarantees that sponsored
activities and projects do not result in adverse human rights impacts.
It is up to (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) /
McDonald's / TicketHour) to choose the message it wants to promote,
whether that will be the message of democracy, or the message of
support for one of the most authoritarian regimes in Europe.
In recent weeks, prominent human rights defenders in Azerbaijan have
been arrested. Hasan Huseynli, acting far from Baku, in Ganja, was
detained first. He is a renowned activist for people in the regions.
Then, Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus were put behind bars.
They were involved in the protection of citizens suffering from
massive expropriation in Baku and were promoting a peace process
between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh. On 2 August,
Rasul Jafarov, a thirty-year-old human rights defender was detained
and arrested for three months. He was the mastermind of the 'Sing
for Democracy' campaign organised during the Eurovision song contest
held in Baku in 2012. He was engaged in counting political prisoners
in Azerbaijan and fought to mobilise international organisations
to react to the Azerbaijani government's human rights abuses. On 8
August, Intigam Aliyev, a well-known activist and a prominent lawyer,
was arrested. He had won a dozen of cases against Azerbaijan before
the European Court of Human Rights. His arrest has left a number of
applicants to the Court without legal representation.
It is clear that the charges against these activists are spurious;
all of them were accused of economic and tax offences, despite the
fact that they operate non-profit organisations. Three weeks ago,
on exactly the same grounds, prosecution proceedings were opened
against 21 non-governmental organisations. Accounts of activists and
their organizations were frozen, and most of them have had to cease
their human rights activity.
The recent crackdown is just another step in a long chain of assaults
on democratic values. Anar Mammadli, the head of an independent
think-tank monitoring elections, who dared to claim that the
presidential elections held in the autumn of 2013 were unfair,
was jailed a couple of months ago. Ilgar Mammadov, the head of the
opposition party, was jailed over a year ago, and the European Court
of Human Rights has already acknowledged him as a political prisoner.
Prominent journalists, such as Tofiq Yagublu, Sardar Alibeili, and
Parviz Hashimli, have also been added to President Ilham Aliyev's
collection of activists behind bars. These detentions are just a
derivative of policies that the Government of Azerbaijan has been
conducting for many years, preventing non-governmental organizations
from registering their activity and the grants received from foreign
funding.
In the light of these facts, it is striking that (BP / Nar Mobile /
P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's / TicketHour), a
company that strongly supported John Ruggie's mandate and development
of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights, and on
numerous occasions highlights its efforts to respect human rights
and be a good corporate citizen, chooses to promote Azerbaijan by
providing financial support to the European Games. This leads to a
paradoxical situation in which a repressive leader - Ilham Aliyev -
receives loud support from companies in Europe, which choose to turn
a blind eye to the human rights abuses.
We call on you to verify and reassess, taking into account the U.N.
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to what extent
your financial support for the European Olympic Games in Baku will
white-wash human rights violations in Azerbaijan, and reconsider
your sponsorship. Despite the official statement of the Organizing
Committee, which attempts to ignore the political situation in
Azerbaijan and ongoing human rights repressions, we believe that the
activists' arrests, in particular that of Rasul Jafarov, are related
to the organization of the games. The activist was planning to launch
a new campaign "Sport for democracy" during the 2015 European Games,
engaging sportsman and sport teams to promote democratic values and
draw the public attention to the degrading human rights situation in
the country.
We do hope and believe that an honest and diligent assessment of the
human rights situation in the country will lead you to reconsidering
the financial engagement in the European Games.
http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/statements/azerbaijan/2014/09/d22836/
World Organization Against Torture
Sept 23 2014
Letter to BP
5 pages / 312 KB
JOINT LETTER TO BP / NAR MOBILE / P&G / TISSOT/ MC DONALD'S AND TICKET HOUR
On behalf of the signatories below, and in the light of the media
news concerning the sponsorship agreement concluded between (BP /
Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's /
TicketHour) and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan, which
covers both the European Games scheduled for 2015, and the Games
Academy launched in April 2014, we would like to draw your attention
to and express our great concern at the current political situation
in Azerbaijan and your potential contribution and complicity in the
human rights violations taking place in that country.
In line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
business enterprises have responsibility to respect human rights,
also in their business relations, which requires them to:
(a) Avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts
through their own activities, and address such impacts when they
occur; and
(b) Seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that
are directly linked to their operations, products or services by
their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to
those impacts.
Enterprises are also required to 'know and show' how they meet this
responsibility, and in order to enable this, are expected to have in
place effective policies and processes appropriate to their size and
circumstances, including processes to enable the remediation of any
adverse human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute.
We understand (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) /
McDonald's / TicketHour) is engaged in the country both economically
and culturally, and probably perceives its sponsorship agreement as
element of its corporate social responsibility dimension. However,
given the potential negative human rights impacts that such financial
involvement (sponsorship) might have on the local community and human
rights defenders in Azerbaijan, we would like to query whether (BP
/ Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's /
TicketHour) has conducted a rigorous human rights due diligence
process, including a thorough human rights impact assessment of
its financial involvement with the Games organization (including
construction of new sport and related facilities and infrastructure),
before it entered into sponsorship agreement. In particular we would
like to query whether (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch
Group) / McDonald's / TicketHour):
took into consideration the political situation in the country,
particularly the long- lasting repression of civil society in the
country and the wave of arrest of human rights defenders in July and
August 2014?
analysed the impact of development of sports infrastructure on local
communities, particularly bearing in mind the unlawful evictions in
various Baku districts that have preceded this event e.g. for the
Eurovision contest?
required the Games organizer to conduct and disclose the results
of the human rights and environmental impact assessment of the new
building/infrastructure projects?
required inclusion of a human rights clause that would enable (BP
/ Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's /
TicketHour) to terminate the sponsorship agreement if the organization
of the Games gave rise to increased human rights violations?
has in place adequate policies, processes and grievance mechanisms
to enable those negatively affected by the Games, an organization
of which it is financially involved, to seek effective remedy and
justice in case adverse on human rights impacts and occur?
We believe that a global company like (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot
(part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's / TicketHour) has the potential
not only to impact great numbers of people around the world, but also
to exert important leverage over its business partners. In situations
like this when it is making a significant financial contribution,
it should use this leverage to require guarantees that sponsored
activities and projects do not result in adverse human rights impacts.
It is up to (BP / Nar Mobile / P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) /
McDonald's / TicketHour) to choose the message it wants to promote,
whether that will be the message of democracy, or the message of
support for one of the most authoritarian regimes in Europe.
In recent weeks, prominent human rights defenders in Azerbaijan have
been arrested. Hasan Huseynli, acting far from Baku, in Ganja, was
detained first. He is a renowned activist for people in the regions.
Then, Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus were put behind bars.
They were involved in the protection of citizens suffering from
massive expropriation in Baku and were promoting a peace process
between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh. On 2 August,
Rasul Jafarov, a thirty-year-old human rights defender was detained
and arrested for three months. He was the mastermind of the 'Sing
for Democracy' campaign organised during the Eurovision song contest
held in Baku in 2012. He was engaged in counting political prisoners
in Azerbaijan and fought to mobilise international organisations
to react to the Azerbaijani government's human rights abuses. On 8
August, Intigam Aliyev, a well-known activist and a prominent lawyer,
was arrested. He had won a dozen of cases against Azerbaijan before
the European Court of Human Rights. His arrest has left a number of
applicants to the Court without legal representation.
It is clear that the charges against these activists are spurious;
all of them were accused of economic and tax offences, despite the
fact that they operate non-profit organisations. Three weeks ago,
on exactly the same grounds, prosecution proceedings were opened
against 21 non-governmental organisations. Accounts of activists and
their organizations were frozen, and most of them have had to cease
their human rights activity.
The recent crackdown is just another step in a long chain of assaults
on democratic values. Anar Mammadli, the head of an independent
think-tank monitoring elections, who dared to claim that the
presidential elections held in the autumn of 2013 were unfair,
was jailed a couple of months ago. Ilgar Mammadov, the head of the
opposition party, was jailed over a year ago, and the European Court
of Human Rights has already acknowledged him as a political prisoner.
Prominent journalists, such as Tofiq Yagublu, Sardar Alibeili, and
Parviz Hashimli, have also been added to President Ilham Aliyev's
collection of activists behind bars. These detentions are just a
derivative of policies that the Government of Azerbaijan has been
conducting for many years, preventing non-governmental organizations
from registering their activity and the grants received from foreign
funding.
In the light of these facts, it is striking that (BP / Nar Mobile /
P&G / Tissot (part of Swatch Group) / McDonald's / TicketHour), a
company that strongly supported John Ruggie's mandate and development
of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights, and on
numerous occasions highlights its efforts to respect human rights
and be a good corporate citizen, chooses to promote Azerbaijan by
providing financial support to the European Games. This leads to a
paradoxical situation in which a repressive leader - Ilham Aliyev -
receives loud support from companies in Europe, which choose to turn
a blind eye to the human rights abuses.
We call on you to verify and reassess, taking into account the U.N.
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to what extent
your financial support for the European Olympic Games in Baku will
white-wash human rights violations in Azerbaijan, and reconsider
your sponsorship. Despite the official statement of the Organizing
Committee, which attempts to ignore the political situation in
Azerbaijan and ongoing human rights repressions, we believe that the
activists' arrests, in particular that of Rasul Jafarov, are related
to the organization of the games. The activist was planning to launch
a new campaign "Sport for democracy" during the 2015 European Games,
engaging sportsman and sport teams to promote democratic values and
draw the public attention to the degrading human rights situation in
the country.
We do hope and believe that an honest and diligent assessment of the
human rights situation in the country will lead you to reconsidering
the financial engagement in the European Games.
http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/statements/azerbaijan/2014/09/d22836/