HRW claims deterioration of human rights situation in Azerbaijan

In its annual report on the human rights situation, the “Human Rights Watch” (HRW) international human rights organization has pointed to the intensification of repression against journalists and activists in Azerbaijan, as well as the practice of torture in prisons and the persecution of LGBT* community members.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in 2024, repression against journalists, human rights defenders, and believers in Azerbaijan intensified, and the number of political prisoners increased sharply. The number of deaths of prisoners has increased, the “Monitoring Centre for Political Prisoners” reports.

The “Human Rights Watch” notes that “the Azerbaijani government intensified its crackdown against domestic critics even as it hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in November.”

The authorities of Azerbaijan continued the repressions that began in previous years. They leveled false or spurious charges against political opponents, journalists, and civic activists. “In August and July, the Azerbaijani authorities arrested two doctoral students on bogus high treason charges. They are, respectively, Bakhruz Samedov, an outspoken critic of the Second Karabakh War, and Igbal Abilov, who specializes in Talysh minority studies,” the “Human Rights Watch” points out in its report.

In April, the police arrested Anar Mamedli, the head of an election monitoring group, on spurious charges. Anar Mamedli is a founding member of a new coalition on climate justice, set up ahead of COP29.

Among other government critics arrested throughout the year on an array of bogus charges, the “Human Rights Watch” mentions former diplomat Emin Ibragimov, economics commentator Farid Mekhralizade, opposition activist Tofig Yagublu, online parliamentary analysis outlet founder Imran Aliev, and online critic Famil Khalilov.

Starting in November 2023, the authorities targeted at least three independent media platforms, including the “Abzas Media”, “Toplum TV”, and “Kanal 13”, arresting their reporters and other staff on spurious smuggling charges.

The HRW’s reports also talks about the practice of torture in Azerbaijani prisons. In particular, in July 2024, the “Abzas Media” published a detailed report on torture allegations by the platform’s imprisoned director, Ulvi Gasanli.

*On November 30, 2023, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Russian Federation declared the movement an “extremist organization” and banned the “international public movement of LGBT people.” With this decision, the court satisfied the claim of the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), sent to the court on November 17, 2023.