Western contractors disregard rights in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani NGOs say human rights and environmental standards were violated in the process of construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, according to Interfax.

This statement was made at a press conference in Baku that involved representatives of the NGOs.

Fikret Jafarov, the leader of the group of NGOs that carried out environmental monitoring, noted at the press conference that contractors' operation had not been at a due level, in spite that environmental control of the construction process had been organised very well. "There was a negative impact on biodiversity during construction and the contractors do not honour their obligations for waste management. Besides, the condition of land around pumping stations needs to be improved," Mr Jafarov said.

Mais Giulaliyev, the leader of the group of NGOs that carried out human rights monitoring, said there were serious human rights violations.

"The rights of Azerbaijani workers are violated, working conditions are much better for foreigners. There were great violations in the process of paying compensations to the population for using their lands, the population was not informed about the system of compensations," said Mr Giulaliyev.