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Aliyev has been widely criticized in the West for overseeing a deeply corrupt, oil-fed regime that has systematically muzzled and jailed critics to cement its hold on power. The U.S. State Department, in its annual human-rights report, has described Aliyev as "dominating" the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, which are largely seen as serving the will of Azerbaijan’s ruling clans, the European service of the Radio Liberty says.

Many, however, say such critiques ring hollow when the United States, in practical terms, has done little to stop the persistent repression of protesters, journalists, and human rights workers in Azerbaijan. “Much of the concern centers on the supply of arms to Azerbaijan. The country has used its energy revenues to fuel a massive military buildup amid a bellicose standoff with neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the authors write.

According to the article Azerbaijan has steadily built up an arsenal of crowd-control devices that it is using regularly against demonstrators engaging in antigovernment protests, including truncheons, rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons.

Authors remind that on March 10 in Baku the police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the crowd who were protesting against the deaths of soldiers in non-combat situation “Such clashes are expected to grow as antigovernment sentiment mounts ahead of October elections in which the country’s autocratic leader, Ilham Aliyev, is expected to run for a controversial third term as president.”

On March 10, in Baku, a mass protest against the deaths of soldiers in the army in non-combat situation was held. The rally was dispersed by the police; at least 60 people were detained. According to the opposition party "Musavat", detainees were beaten and gassed in the bus. Baku police also detained a number of parents of soldiers who were dragged on the asphalt. On the eve news agency "Turan" provided information that the authorities were going to use LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) during Sunday's protest in order to break up the demonstrators.