Statement of Federation of Azerbaijan's Human Rights Organizations

To monitor violations of the law on election day, October 15, the Federation of Azerbaijan's Human Rights Organizations arranged the Crisis Center in the office of the Institute of Peace and Democracy, with "hot line" phones working. Over 300 citizens from different regions of Azerbaijan applied to the Crisis Center and made their complaints about gross violations. Those complaints were processed and immediately sent to the OSCE observer mission.

The preliminary analysis of information received is evidence that numerous violations on election day have completed the picture of mass breaches, violence and lawlessness with which all the presidential election campaign was accompanied and of which the Federation repeatedly informed local public, the mass media and international organizations.

Two reports (June 15 - August 31 and September 1-30, 2003) were prepared by the Federation in the election period. In particular, the following violations of the law were registered:

1. Hundred thousands of voters were deprived of their chance to vote as they were initially struck of the voter lists by divisional election committees. From 250 to 500 voters were denied ballot papers at a whole number of electoral districts. The cases of removing active oppositionists and refugees from the lists in the Fizulinsky district raise doubt about technical nature of such incidents. The major part of voters who went to the law could not gain positive judgments and vote. Along with that, notifications naming a place of voting were not sent to many voters. Activists of opposition parties were among those voters as well.
2. Special mobile groups of people (women, students) who voted at several electoral districts were organized. Observers surmised they were those very "voters on duty" who received ballot papers of the voters whose names were removed from the lists.
3. As with previous elections, one man was allowed to vote for several family members and throw in several ballots.
4. Frank agitation for the ruling party's candidate was held at electoral centers, officials of executive authorities and divisional election committees being involved in it.
5. By 19:00 police officers drove out from some election centers observers, journalists and voters, who were vainly trying to get ballots. Thus the observers were debarred from watching the count of votes. All these allow the Federation to conclude the presidential elections of 2003 were not free, fair and democratic.

October 15, 2003