Azerbaijan accused of ramping up repression of critics ahead of hosting UN climate summit

As representatives from nearly 200 countries, along with hundreds of journalists, arrived in Azerbaijan in November for the U.N. climate conference known this year as COP29, they bring with them a level of scrutiny the hosts aren't accustomed to — and don't often tolerate.

Azerbaijan has had a poor human rights record for many years and the government has regularly targeted journalists, activists and independent politicians. President Ilham Aliyev and his administration are accused by human rights organizations of spearheading an intensifying crackdown on freedom of speech ahead of the climate summit, including against climate activists and journalists.

Aliyev’s father, Haidar, ruled Azerbaijan from 1993 until he died in 2003 and Ilham took over. Both suppressed dissent as the country of almost 10 million people on the Caspian Sea basked in growing wealth from huge oil and natural gas reserves.

Elections since independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s haven't been regarded as fully free or fair. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Azerbaijan's most recent parliamentary elections in September took place in a “restrictive” environment. They were marked by turnout of 37% and no opposition party won any seats.

Human Rights Watch said the “vicious” crackdown against journalists and human rights activists has intensified over the last two years with phony criminal charges against critics and highly restrictive laws that make it hard for media and activists to work.

Ahead of COP29, Azerbaijan's authorities have extended the pretrial detention of at least 11 journalists from Azerbaijan's remaining independent news outlets on currency smuggling charges related to alleged funding from Western donors.

Azerbaijani government officials did not respond to numerous requests from The Associated Press for an interview or comment on their actions.

A look at just five of Baku's critics currently detained in Azerbaijan:

Ulvi Hasanli and Sevinj Vagifgizi

Hasalni and Vagifgizi are journalists and leaders of Abzas Media, an independent online outlet. Abzas Media has investigated reports of protests and pollution at a gold mine in western Azerbaijan, reconstruction in the Karabakh region and corruption allegations against high-ranking officials.

Hasanli and Vagifgizi, along with four colleagues, were arrested in November 2023. Azerbaijani officials allege they conspired to smuggle money into Azerbaijan and claim they found more than $40,000 in Hasanli’s office. The journalists deny the allegations and Hasanli said the money was planted.

“That is why they decided to eliminate Ulvi and his team ... to make sure they would no longer be able to expose their wrongdoings,” Rubaba Guliyeva, Hasanli's wife told the AP.

Hasanli and Vagifgizi are imprisoned in Baku with no trial date. Guliyeva called conditions there “extremely bad” and said she had seen bruises on her husband and had been told that their meetings and phone calls are monitored. Hasanli is allowed brief visits with his 2-year-old daughter but struggles when she leaves, his wife said.

Vagifgizi's mother Ophelya Maharramova said the prison has water shortages and that the water isn't drinkable. Prisoners “suffer from hair loss and their teeth are rotting," she said.

Despite being imprisoned, Vagifgizi still asks what investigations Abzas Media is publishing, her mother said: “It's what makes her feel motivated."

Guliyeva said states should boycott COP29 because of Azerbaijan's poor human rights record.

Gubad Ibadoghlu

Ibadoghlu is an academic and economist at the London School of Economics who was detained in Azerbaijan in July 2023. He was moved to house arrest in April after spending months in prison.

He was accused by Azerbaijan of selling counterfeit money, but his children dispute the charges. They believe he was targeted because he investigated corruption in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry and because he is an opposition figure. Ibadoghlu's sons say he also set up a charitable organization in the United Kingdom to work with the UK Home Office to try to transfer money confiscated by the National Crime Agency from rich Azerbaijanis to the charity to serve the people of Azerbaijan.

Ibadoghlu is also the chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Movement, which has been denied registration as a political party in Azerbaijan.

His son Emin Bayramov told AP his father was arrested by unidentified police officers who beat his mother when she questioned who they were. Ibadoghlu has heath issues including diabetes and his family say he is being denied medical care. Another son, Ibad Bayramov, told AP the International Committee of the Red Cross had tried to visit him four times but were not allowed to see him.

Ibadoghlu also has no trial date. His sons have accused Azerbaijan’s government of delaying it until after the climate summit to avoid negative publicity.

Azerbaijan hosting COP29 while carrying out a crackdown on freedom of speech brings “shame on the international community,” Emin Bayramov said.

Anar Mammadli

Mammadli is a human rights and climate activist who was detained by masked men and driven away while he was on his way to pick up his child from nursery in April in Baku. He has also been accused of smuggling and of trying to unlawfully bring money into Azerbaijan. He denies the charges.

He heads an election monitoring and democracy group that joined others to co-found the Climate of Justice Initiative in Azerbaijan. In an open letter, the groups criticized Azerbaijan as “one of the most problematic countries in Europe in terms of political and civil liberties.”

Azerbaijan, the groups said, has not implemented a systematic policy to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Climate emissions have continued to rise and oil production has polluted land, it said.

Human Rights Watch said Mammadli has been a key defender of human rights in Azerbaijan, highlighting violations of “fundamental freedoms." He has called for freedom for political prisoners and an improved legal and political environment for human rights activists.

In a previous case, Mammadli was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison in 2014 on charges of tax evasion, illegal business and abuse of office. Amnesty International said the charges were trumped up, and he was awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize shortly after he was sentenced. He was pardoned in 2016.

Like the others, Mammadli is imprisoned awaiting a trial date.

Akif Gurbanov

Gurbanov is chairman of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, an independent organization that seeks to develop a more open society through democratic initiatives such as training young journalists, human rights defenders and economists.

He was detained in March after police searched his home and raided the IDI's office. Later police accused him and others of currency smuggling. At the same time, authorities raided the offices of the online news platform Toplum TV and the civil society organization Platform III Republic — both co-founded by Gurbanov.

Toplum TV worked with the other organizations to train young journalists, Human Rights Watch said. Platform III Republic is an organization that promotes discussion about Azerbaijani politics, good governance and proposes development strategies for the country's future.

Gurbanov's wife, Ayan Musayeva, told AP that he was arrested for his work “defending human rights, providing alternative information, speaking the truth."

States attending COP29 in Baku, she said, should be calling for his immediate release along with “all other political prisoners in Azerbaijan.”

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This story has been updated to correct the location where Azerbaijan officials claim to have found money in Ulvi Hasanli's case to his office, not his home.