Peer Reviewer 1:
The report analyzes the situation in Azerbaijan subjectively, and it lacks enough hard facts. Maybe this is the main problem in this country: people complain about the corruption, but not everybody reacts to it. At the same time, I dont reject the existence of corruption, but I prefer not to exaggerate and base my criticism on listing personal opinions or individual cases. When I was in university, many students voiced complaints, and a few pursued civil action in court, which led to professors being punished. I did not have any relatives and I didnt know any professors, yet I never had to give a bribe. Once, when a professor did not give me a grade I thought I deserved, I wrote to the dean and I was retested again in his presence. In the end, I earned my degrees with distinction, was selected the best student of the university and my diploma was awarded by the deputy minister of Education.
The same situation is found in schools. If we take into consideration individual opinions, the quality of education in schools will be deemed extremely low. One example is that of teachers tutoring pupils outside school for money (indirect corruption). But I count the reverse as well, no further that my own situation: I entered the university of my choice, with one of the highest scores in the republic, thanks to my teachers: they gave me the necessary knowledge and explained to me the right direction to prepare for the exams!
The same goes with the story about Vladimir, presented in the notebook. It is the first time I hear about such a big number of bribes during such a short time. There were many problems with the road police, but after their salaries were increased I never heard about them stopping a car with the intent of taking bribes. I also read several times that the police stops cars with regional licenses much more often than cars registered in the capital city. I had a car with a regional license and I was stopped only once in two years, and that for a clear violation of the law. I suspect, therefore, that Vladimir may have violated rules somehow and did not want to admit that.
The president of Azerbaijan understands that corruption is still slowing down the economic, social and cultural developments in Azerbaijan and tries to combat corruption. Under President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan was the first country in the world to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) announced by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003. The EITI Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NGO coalition For Improving Transparency in Extractive Industries , and they monitor together whether the amounts companies pay to governments match the amounts governments receive.
The Anti-Corruption Department in the General Prosecutors Office, the Commission for Combating Corruption and other decrees and activities to fight corruption are really bringing results. The president understands that the problem of corruption lies in the low income of people, so the 2003 state program on Poverty Reduction and Economic Development did much to reduce poverty, both through research and real action, mostly in regions outside capital city Baku, where poverty levels are highest.
Peer Reviewer 2:
The Reporters Notebook fully reflects the truth about the situation in Azerbaijan. The facts and events described in the report are realistic.
The police, especially the road police, is a corrupt state agency, and its activity always influences the lives of ordinary people. The moments mentioned in the report accurately reflect the truth. The fact that police employees used to receive low salaries encouraged bribery to permeate the system. On June 30, 2004, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to increase the salaries of employees in internal affairs agencies. According to the decree, which was enforced as of July 1, 2004, the average monthly salary of police workers and civilians working in internal affairs agencies was increased up to two times, and the average monthly salary of police officers with special appointments, dexterous police workers and the employees of road police was increased up to three times. However, even if workers in some police groups now earn three to five times more, bribery and corruption in the police system did not decrease. On the contrary, in the case of the road police they actually increased. As the report shows, the amount of the bribe the road police gets from each driver it stops is 10 manat (US$12).
Corruption is spread not only throughout the police, but in the whole law system. In non-political criminal trials, courts give verdicts to the benefit of the defendants who give bribes. Despite the National Strategy on Increasing Transparency and Strengthening the Fight against Corruption in Azerbaijan in 2007-2011, there is no case when officials have been removed from their jobs for corruption. Usually, officials removed from their positions for different political and inter-governmental confrontations are later accused of corruption and are held responsible.
Corruption is a way of management in Azerbaijan. It has sent out deep roots in all three directions of the government: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Systematic corruption is found everywhere: state offices, law enforcement system, education, health care, municipalities, real estate operations, business developments in the private sector, and in the elections to Parliament and municipalities. Its important to note one moment in the report: every act or activity outside of protection and defense of political government is accompanied by corruption. The government is ruled by a corruption pyramid: some part of the money collected from ordinary people in the form of bribes is passed to the higher levels of the government.
It would be important to note also this moment in the report: the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, led by first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, has built 240 new schools and renovated about 300 schools in the country in 2007. There is, however, no information about the sources of income of this foundation. According to some sources, part of the budget comes from the money collected from the health care system, other organizations financed from the state budget and law enforcement bodies. Indirectly, all this money comes from ordinary citizens.
Peer Reviewer 3:
The article extensively and fairly illustrates the corruption situation in the country. I also agree with the writers opinion that corruption is endemic in Azerbaijan or, I would say, became a part of our daily life.
The story of the Georgian businessman traveling from Tbilisi to Baku was quite interesting. Indeed, the customs and traffic police have a reputation of being very corrupt institutions. However, as a lawyer, I suspect that something was wrong with Vladimirs travel documents. I know many foreigners who travel on the same route and I have not heard any serious complaints from them. If documents are in order and if you are a foreigner, the traffic police usually do not ask for a bribe. It is also possible that Vladimir himself initiated offering money to the traffic police or customs due to problems in his travel documents.
One important characteristic is that corruption in Azerbaijan is very sophisticated and systemized by the governmental bodies. For instance, unlike 10-15 years ago, when one could negotiate with certain customs official or traffic police on the amount of the bribe, now this is impossible. Payments or facilitation fees are set amounts and nobody can negotiate them. In some governmental institutions, officials are paid a so-called additional salary on the top of their official income. Obviously, depending on the position they hold, the amounts they earn change.
There is also a social aspect of corruption in Azerbaijan, and it might take several generations to change the mentality of the people. For instance, many parents will be happy to pay a bribe or even sell their houses in order to see their sons or daughters enter top universities to study law, international relations or medicine. Then, as the writer correctly points out, each semester parents will give around 1,000 manat (US$1,180) or even more to teachers, to make sure their children pass exams, even if they dont study. As a result, the society gets uneducated specialists and nobody wants to employ them. Then, parents must spend additional money to find jobs for them. I would say this is one of the social paradoxes of corruption in Azerbaijan.
Finally, the government of Azerbaijan makes all necessary legal reforms in order to fight corruption. The State Anti-Corruption Committee did a great legal paper work: it adjusted all the major international conventions on corruption into domestic legislation, and it suggested many amendments and changes to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Code and ext. Now, I would say the fight against corruption is not a legal matter anymore, but it depends on the political will, which should aim at reforming the system from top to bottom.
