Azerbaijan is known for its repression of critics and activists. Before the upcoming climate conference, the country is making no exception and arresting well-known civil rights activists.
Human rights organizations are complaining that the crackdown against dissidents in the authoritarian South Caucasus republic of Azerbaijan is intensifying in the run-up to the UN climate conference in November. The government has cracked down more harshly on critics and arrested dozens in the past two years, according to a joint report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Freedom Now.
“The Azerbaijani government disregards civil rights and ensures that independent groups and critical media hardly exist anymore,” said Giorgi Gogia, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at HRW.
According to the information, dozens of people were arrested in the oil and gas-rich country on the Caspian Sea on trumped-up and politically motivated charges. HRW and Freedom Now documented 33 cases in which critics were prosecuted, imprisoned and harassed.
Founder of climate initiative arrested in Azerbaijan
According to the report, human rights activist Anar Mammadli is among those detained. Before his arrest, he co-founded a climate justice initiative. She should therefore campaign for civil rights and climate justice in Azerbaijan before the UN climate conference. The reason for the arrest was alleged counterfeit money smuggling.
For the report, the organizations said they interviewed more than 40 lawyers, relatives of prisoners and employees of non-governmental organizations.
The world climate conference is scheduled to open on November 11th in the capital Baku and last until November 22nd. Azerbaijan is internationally criticized for human rights violations and the suppression of dissidents and is at the same time an important energy supplier for the states of the European Union.
Source: Stern
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