Law 11:57 27/04/2016 World

OCCRP: Bribing Congressmen, Azerbaijan and Turkey try to intervene in US policy and hoodwink the American public

In May of 2013, the government of Azerbaijan, via its State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), injected $750,000 into an obscure Texas-based non-profit, the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ). The assembly then flipped the funds into a series of secondary non-profits in order to hide the real source of financing of the US legislators’ upcoming visit to Baku, accprding to an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report. 

A few weeks later, nine members of the US Congress touched down in Baku. The first class flight and banquets were all organized by those very funds. The Azerbaijani authorities organized quite a generous reception: sumptuous dinners, fireworks displays, gifts of hand-woven carpets, crystal tea sets, silk scarves, and DVDs praising the country’s president Ilham Aliyev - all free of charge, and costing well in excess of the permissible limits of gifts to Congress.

According to a report from the US’s Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), the government of Azerbaijan and SOCAR appear “to have secretly financed the junket for these nine lawmakers and dozens of staffers.” The Ethics Committee is tasked with investigating lobbying and travel violations by members of the House of Representatives.

Craig Holman, a Congressional ethics expert with the Washington-based non-profit organization Public Citizen stated that nobody “has seen this brazenness since the Abramoff days” – the former American lobbyist and businessman, who was involved in a number of corruption scandals.

По словам Холман, была осуществлена попытка иностранного государства, в частности Азербайджана, вмешаться в политику США и одурачить американскую общественность.
According to Holman, a foreign government, particularly Azerbaijan, tried to intervene in the US policy, and hoodwink the American public.”

Meanwhile, according to OCCRP, Azerbaijan and SOCAR are not the only foreign entities to bribe Congressional officials. The OCE report mentioned Turkish non-profits that cloaked their financial backers, much like Azerbaijan, and USA Today recently found an additional 200 Congressional trips secretly funded by dozens of Turkish groups since 2008.

It is noted that Azerbaijan has good reason to attempt to burnish its image. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Azerbaijan remains the fifth-most censored country in the world, and the country has the lowest rates according to the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

The country, according to the most recent estimates, has more than twice as many political prisoners as Russia and Belarus combined. It is also reminded that multiple Congressional officials are pushing to implement a sanctions regime against Azerbaijan’s leadership for human rights abuses.

Holman also said that the OCE’s report “should result in a Department of Justice investigation and serious criminal penalties against SOCAR, if not the Azerbaijan government itself.”

Moreover, according to the report, House Ethics Committee Chairman Charlie Dent received at least $8,000 last May from resources linked to Azerbaijan. When the OCE initially began inquiring into the Azerbaijan trip in January 2015, the Ethics Committee lodged no complaints. Two months later, however, the committee demanded the OCE halt its investigation, and refer its evidence to the committee, which said that it was investigating the trip on its own.

Meanwhile, according to the report, a USA Today investigation found that Rep. Yvette Clarke, the lone member of the Ethics Committee who took the trip to Azerbaijan paid by Baku authorities, did not follow the committee’s rules requiring advance approval of trips paid for by private groups.

However, the Ethics Committee had failed to set up a required investigative subcommittee, which meant that the OCE could continue its investigation despite the committee’s complaints. “OCE rules are House rules,” Holman said. “The House Ethics Committee acted contrary to House rules.”

The OCE continued its work, sending final findings to the committee last May. But then the Ethics Committee chose not to publish them, claiming that they were not “convincing enough.”

After the Ethics Committee declined to release the findings, the OCE released its report on its own website, citing “principles of transparency and accountability.” Therefore, despite the US Congress Ethics Committee objections, the Office of Congressional Ethics published an extensive report with the results of how the government of Azerbaijan, SOCAR, and a handful of non-profits misled the US Congressmen in Baku.
According to OCCRP, the junket appears to have paid dividends for Azerbaijan, which not only “raised its profile,” but boosted efforts to attract Western development for Caspian fuel extraction.

An additional Open Secrets investigation revealed that Rep. Jim Bridenstine, who traveled to Baku, began “stumping” in Congress for Azerbaijani fuel, pushing an amendment “that would have required the Department of Defense to issue reports on the strategic importance of natural gas interests in the Caspian.”

Soon thereafter, six other Congressmen who had taken the trip to Baku attached their names to a House resolution seeking more access to Azerbaijan’s hydrocarbon reserves, despite the fact that some analysts say Azerbaijan plays an overblown role in Western energy security.

Meanwhile, according to OCCRP, soon, it will have been a year since reporters for OCCRP took a long, hard look at what is going on inside Azerbaijan’s prison system. Last June, journalists from the US joined colleagues from the Caucasus region and eastern Europe to piece together a history of who was being held in prison and why. It is emphasized that Researchers from the Prisoners Watch project provided data on Azerbaijan’s increasing and unlawful use of its criminal courts to silence political dissent.

It is noted that since the Azerbaijani government began targeting dissidents, a number have been jailed on fabricated accusations and many have fled the country, finding asylum abroad. In some cases, families and relatives of the dissidents have also been harassed by the authorities. 

The report presents the history of political prisoners like Khadija Ismayilova, Parviz Hashimli, Omar Mammadov, Tofiq Yagublu, Rauf Mirkadirov, Abdul Abilov, Seymur Haziyev, Faraj Karimov, Rashad Ramazanov, Nijat Aliyev, and Araz Guliyev.

In her turn, expert on the freedom of press in Azerbaijan, Arzu Geybullayeva, writes for the Global Voices that  a strategically-placed oil-producing state, Azerbaijan hosted the European Games last year, and despite some of the worst authoritarianism in the ex-Soviet region retains healthy relations with the West. The author reminds that on April 20, the state prosecutor's office launched a criminal investigation targeting Meydan TV, a dissident media famous for its publications and reports criticizing the authorities.

According to her, in the conditions of suppressing the independent media and deposing the opposition, life in the country is much more reminiscent of the “Hunger Games” film and book series than any glitzy sporting event. Geybullayeva writes that president Ilham Aliyev “inherited the presidential throne from former communist boss and father Heydar, and has shown even less regard for freedom of expression and other basic human rights.”
“As the country's economy suffers under the strain of low oil prices, the regime has looked ever more like the brutal game designers,” the expert writes.



Source Panorama.am
Share |

Newsfeed

15:15
Putin receives credentials from new Armenian ambassador
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday received letters of credence from 28 newly arrived foreign ambassadors, including Armenian...
14:43
Azerbaijan has no plans to leave Armenian territories, MP claims
MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition Pativ Unem faction has called attention to the discussion on the sequence of border sections for...
14:05
Georgian travel agency deletes post on Armenia's Lori, unavailable on president's page
Georgian travel agency Adjara Voyage has deleted its social media post describing Armenia's Lori Province as “historical...
13:35
EU officials visited Armenia for visa liberalization talks, deputy FM says
EU officials have travelled to Armenia for visa liberalization talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan said on Tuesday....
13:15
Greta Thunberg boycotts COP29 in Baku
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has announced her decision to boycott the upcoming COP29 climate summit, set to take place in Baku,...
12:59
UN court to deliver judgment on Armenia v. Azerbaijan case on November 12
On Tuesday 12 November, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its...
12:33
Opposition MP asks to postpone independence declaration debates
Opposition Hayastan faction MP Gegham Manukyan on Tuesday asked a parliamentary committee to postpone debates on a statement defending...
12:03
Senator Markey: COP29 should be used to hold Azerbaijan accountable for war crimes
U.S. Senator Ed Markey insists that COP29 should be used to hold the Azerbaijani government accountable for its war crimes....
11:34
Armenia appoints new justice minister
Srbuhi Galyan has been appointed Armenia’s new justice minister. President President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a relevant decree...
11:15
Iranian leader to attend COP29 in Baku
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will attend the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku, the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan reported....
11:02
Armenian ambassador says he received death threats from Azeri counterpart in Brussels
The Armenian Embassy has lodged a formal protest with other diplomatic missions in Brussels after its ambassador claimed to have been on the...
17:02
Footballer killed by lightning strike at match in Peru
A football player in Peru has died and more have suffered injuries after being struck by lightning during a match on Sunday afternoon, the Daily...
16:46
On the trail of a post about Lori shared by Georgian president
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili shared on Facebook a post by a Georgian travel agency offering tours to Armenia’s Lori Province on...
16:05
Parliament speaker names ruling party's candidate for Gyumri mayor
Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party has picked Karen Sarukhanyan, a former governor of Shirak Province, as its candidate for the next...
15:42
Pashinyan criticized for failure to congratulate Moldova's president on re-election
Artur Sakunts, a human rights activist who heads the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Vanadzor, on Monday criticized Prime Minister Nikol...
15:07
Car crash in Armenia leaves one dead, three wounded
A tragic car crash in Armenia’s Aragatsotn Province on Monday left one person killed and three others injured. The Rescue Service...
14:36
Yerevan mayor says his 'good looks' could make him a target for corruption rumors
Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan denied allegations of corrupt practices involving him as defamation.  “I guess my good looks...
14:14
Putin to accept credentials from new Armenian envoy on Tuesday
Russian President Vladimir Putin will receive the letters of credence from 28 newly arrived foreign ambassadors, including Armenian...
13:45
Legendary music producer Quincy Jones dies at 91
Quincy Jones, a titan of American entertainment who worked with stars from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson and Will Smith, has died aged...
13:30
Rain expected in some parts of Armenia on Monday
Rain is forecast for some parts of Armenia on Monday, with snow set to hit the country’s mountainous areas. Clear weather is expected...
13:04
At least 10 killed after volcano erupts in Indonesia
At least 10 people have been killed after a volcano erupted in eastern Indonesia in the early hours of Monday, BBC News reports, citing local...
12:46
ICRC visits Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan
Employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan in October this year....
12:26
Spanish king pelted with eggs in flood-hit Valencia
Angry residents booed and threw eggs at Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia as they visited the Valencia region, where more than 200...
12:10
Political analyst: Azerbaijan sitting on the twine
Political analyst Stepan Danielyan has weighed in on the latest developments regarding the Ukraine conflict. In a social media post on...
11:35
Tatoyan Foundation working to expose Azerbaijan's lies about Artsakh
Specialists of the Tatoyan Foundation are doing extensive work to expose the false Azerbaijani narratives about Armenia and Artsakh...
11:16
Maia Sandu wins second term in Moldovan presidential election
Moldova's pro-Western incumbent president Maia Sandu has won a second term in a pivotal presidential runoff against a Russia-friendly...
11:00
Trump reiterates support for Artsakh Armenians in phone call with Catholicos Aram I
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump on Friday phoned His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of...
17:13
Public figure accuses Armenian authorities of attempting to intimidate him
Public figure Hovhannes Avetisyan, an expert in public finance management, accused the Armenian authorities of repression and crackdown on their...
16:34
Iran's supreme leader threatens Israel and US with 'crushing response'
Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday threatened Israel and the U.S. with “a crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its...
16:15
Armenia offers condolences to Serbia over tragic collapse at railway station
Armenia has extended condolences to Serbia following the tragic collapse at a railway station, which killed at least 14 people and...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}