We laugh when the biggest oil nations of the world hold climate conferences, but the UN and how it “thinks” is no less confusing when the latest UN climate change event COP29 is hosted in Azerbaijan, opening today in Baku. The Human Rights Watch organization report that Azerbaijan is carrying out a vicious attack on government critics, independent groups, and media and that crackdowns got worse months before Azerbaijan hosted COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which opens today. (Earlier this year Azerbaijan celebrated its Islamic architectural heritage win months before destroying an Armenian church).
Human Rights Watch issued a report “‘We Try to Stay Invisible’: Azerbaijan’s Escalating Crackdown on Critics and Civil Society,” which documents the Azerbaijan’s efforts to decimate civil society and silence its critics. The authorities have arrested dozens of people on what HRW says are politically motivated, bogus criminal charges.
“The Azerbaijani government’s contempt for civic freedoms is putting independent groups and critical media on the path of extinction,” said Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This is not the image the government should be projecting of itself on the eve of COP29.
“It is not too late for the government to improve its reputation by freeing imprisoned critics and immediately ending the use of spurious charges against civil society, but it needs to act now.”
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According to the group the authorities aggressively targeted three of the independent online news platforms that remain in Azerbaijan, including Abzas Media and Toplum TV. They arrested and criminally prosecuted at least 12 of these 3 platforms’ media professionals and several other affiliated individuals. They have hacked social media accounts and blocked websites. They have also arrested reporters with other outlets and leaders of several unregistered groups, as well as trade union activists and others who dared to criticize or protest government policies.
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Among those arrested and in detention is veteran human rights defender Anar Mammadli, who in the weeks before his arrest co-founded a climate justice initiative with the aim of advocating civic freedoms and environmental justice in Azerbaijan ahead of COP29. He is awaiting trial on spurious smuggling charges.
In July 2023, the authorities arrested a renowned economist and anti-corruption activist, Gubad Ibadoghlu, who specializes, among other things, in revenue transparency in the oil and gas sector. Currently under house arrest, Ibadoghlu is awaiting trial on bogus charges related to counterfeit currency production and extremism and faces up to 17 years in jail if convicted.
Under international law, the Azerbaijani government has obligations to protect the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association. This includes the ability to form a legal entity to act collectively in a field of mutual interest.
The European Court of Human Rights has issued numerous judgments finding that the Azerbaijani government’s failure to register independent NGOs violated the right to freedom of association. In at least one of these cases, the court found that authorities restricted rights with the “ulterior purpose” of punishing the applicants for their human rights activities.
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“Through a combination of unjust detention and restrictive NGO rules, the Azerbaijani government is trying to eradicate civil society,” said Andrea Prasow, executive director of Freedom Now. “States and UN officials should urgently call on Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally free arbitrarily detained activists and commit to upholding human rights at COP29 and beyond.”
