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[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”1px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”1626px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
\nThe Assembly deeply deplores the systemic pattern of silencing dissent and stifling of independent voices that has become firmly entrenched in Azerbaijan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
With these words, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe opens its draft resolution on silencing critical voices in Azerbaijan, set for debate and adoption at its June plenary session.<\/p>\n
For more than a decade, the Azerbaijani authorities have silenced independent voices through restrictive legislation, the misuse of criminal law and a judiciary that serves the executive. Our report Quest for Justice in a Climate of Unprecedented Repression<\/a> documented how each wave of repression follows the adoption of laws that criminalise, prosecute and intimidate dissent, and how this machinery dismantled the country’s independent media and civil society.<\/p>\n
The case of Anar Mammadli<\/a> is emblematic of this decade: a human rights defender, election observer and laureate of the 2014 V\u00e1clav Havel Human Rights Prize, he was imprisoned in 2013, released in 2016, and vindicated by the European Court of Human Rights, which found his detention politically motivated. Eight years on, that judgment remains unimplemented, and he sits in prison once more, tried as a repeat offender on the conviction the Court ordered quashed.<\/p>\n
\nThe political prisoners held in Azerbaijan embody the very values the European Union portrays itself as defending, and everything the Council of Europe stands for. To them, silence is deafening. If they, their families, friends and colleagues stop believing in the bodies meant to protect them, European human rights institutions lose their best advocates and their relevance.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The response of the European Union and the Council of Europe to this decade has been silence, and that silence carries a cost.<\/p>\n
As our report Trading Away Principles<\/a> set out, the European Union treated energy and connectivity as matters insulated from human rights, and Baku read this restraint as a signal that deeper repression carries little diplomatic cost.<\/p>\n
The signal travels far beyond Baku: Azerbaijan is setting a new lowest common denominator for the treatment of critics, and other governments are watching. They learn that they may go as far as Azerbaijan and expect the same silence in return. At the time of a \u201cglobal realignment<\/a>\u201d in multilateralism, in which great powers favour transactional international relations, Europe’s silence only empowers repression domestically.<\/p>\n
Our Campaign offered a pathway<\/h3>\n
Rather than silence, our Campaign offered a way to address the situation.<\/p>\n
Our report on the Council of Europe<\/a> called on the Secretary General to initiate an investigation under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights into the weaponisation of the legal system, and on the Committee of Ministers to condition any future engagement on clear human rights benchmarks. The draft resolution<\/a> now before the Assembly makes that same call, inviting the Secretary General to use his powers under Article 52.<\/p>\n
Through doing so, the Council of Europe’s leadership would offer human rights leadership to the whole of Europe, show how to engage with a country that only shows contempt for justice, and indeed\u2026 lead the way to address what amounts to a human rights crisis within its own jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
The roadmap indeed exists. What remains is the will to follow it.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/260601-Banner-3.png” alt=”Systematic Silencing of Dissenting Voices” title_text=”Systematic Silencing of Dissenting Voices” url=”https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/azerbaijans-defiance-a-decade-of-contempt-for-the-council-of-europe\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/pace.coe.int\/files\/tmp\/994816b6-4b02-42b3-87ab-ca440fa8a5c9\/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Draft Parliamentary Assembly Resolution ” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#f3dc95″ button_bg_color=”#d32329″ button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”11px” button_font=”–et_global_heading_font||||||||” button_icon=”9||divi||400″ animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”bottom” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Azerbaijans-Defiance-FINAL-Design-7.png” alt=”Infographic by the Campaign to End Repression in Azerbaijan, questioning whether Azerbaijan satisfies the Council of Europe standards, emphasizing rule of law, human rights, and collaboration. Visit endrepression-az.org for more information.” title_text=”Azerbaijan\u2019s Defiance: Council of Europe Standards Infographic” url=”https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/azerbaijans-defiance-a-decade-of-contempt-for-the-council-of-europe\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_slider _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#f3dc95″ button_bg_color=”#E02B20″ button_border_width=”0px” button_border_color=”#FFFFFF” button_border_radius=”10px” button_font=”–et_global_heading_font||||||||” button_icon=”9||divi||400″ button_icon_color=”#FFFFFF” min_height=”567.1px” custom_padding=”2px||1px|||” animation_style=”slide” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/european-civil-society-call-upon-new-council-of-europe-boss-to-prioritise-human-rights-in-azerbaijan\/” global_module=”29437″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_slide heading=”Electoral Repression in Azerbaijan: Systemic Violations of Freedom of Association” button_text=”Read More” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/submission-super-election-year-2024\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/submission-super-election-year-2024\/” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Submission of the Campaign to End Repression in Azerbaijan to
the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Council of Europe Must Act to Address Azerbaijan\u2019s Neglect of Its Commitments and Obligations ” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/council-of-europe-must-act-to-address-azerbaijans-neglect-of-its-commitments-and-obligations\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/council-of-europe-must-act-to-address-azerbaijans-neglect-of-its-commitments-and-obligations\/” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Baku, Brussels and Geneva,\u00a0<\/span>13<\/span>\u00a0January 2025<\/span>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Today, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the Campaign to End Repression in Azerbaijan unveil their\u00a0<\/span>new\u00a0<\/span>report,\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>comprehensive analysis reveal<\/span>ing\u00a0<\/span>how Azerbaijan has systematically neglected its commitments and obligations as a Council of Europe member, whil<\/span>st<\/span>\u00a0the institution\u2019s inaction has allowed these violations to go unaddressed.<\/span><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”European Political Community Summit: an Opportunity to Demand Rights” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/european-political-community-summit-an-opportunity-to-demand-rights\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/european-political-community-summit-an-opportunity-to-demand-rights\/” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
European human rights organisations call for a clear focus on Azerbaijan\u2019s unprecedented repression and human rights violations during the European Political Community Summit hosted by Prime Minister Victor Orb\u00e1n in Budapest.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”EU Urged to Address Azerbaijan\u2019s Human Rights Crisis at COP29″ button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/eu-urged-to-address-azerbaijans-human-rights-crisis-at-cop29\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/eu-urged-to-address-azerbaijans-human-rights-crisis-at-cop29\/” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Ahead of COP29 in Baku, 17 international human rights organizations are urging EU leaders to confront Azerbaijan\u2019s government over its escalating human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”UN expert calls for Anar Mammadli\u2019s release ” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/un-expert-calls-for-anar-mammadlis-release\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on 31 October 2024, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders calls on the immediate and unconditional release of <\/span>Anar<\/span> Mammadli, ahead of COP29.<\/span><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Anar Mammadli’s health continues to deteriorate due to limited access to medical care” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/anar-mammadlis-health-continues-to-deteriorate-in-detention\/?et_fb=1&PageSpeed=off” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/anar-mammadlis-health-continues-to-deteriorate-in-detention\/?et_fb=1&PageSpeed=off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
At Anar Mammadli’s direct request, the Anar Mammadli Campaign to End Repression in Azerbaijan is alarmed by the continued deterioration <\/span>of Anar Mammadli’s health while in detention in Baku, Azerbaijan.<\/span><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Impossible to achieve peace without a vibrant civil society that protects freedom and human rights” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/oleksandra-matviichuk-impossible-to-achieve-peace-without-a-vibrant-civil-society-that-protects-freedom-and-human-rights\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/oleksandra-matviichuk-impossible-to-achieve-peace-without-a-vibrant-civil-society-that-protects-freedom-and-human-rights\/” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Foreword to the report \u201cQuest for Justice in a Climate of Unprecedented Repression\u201d
By Oleksandra Matviichuk, Ukrainian human rights lawyer, Head of Nobel Peace Prize-awarded Center for Civil Liberties<\/span><\/h5>\n[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Ahead of COP29: Quest for Justice in a Climate of Unprecedented Repression” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/press-release-quest-for-justice-in-a-climate-of-unprecedented-repression\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/press-release-quest-for-justice-in-a-climate-of-unprecedented-repression\/” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Press release of the Anar Mammadli Campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan at the occasion of the publication of the report \u201cQuest for Justice in a Climate of Unprecedented Repression\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Civil Society Demands Attention to Human Rights and Climate Justice Ahead of COP29″ button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/civil-society-demands-attention-to-human-rights-and-climate-justice-ahead-of-cop29\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
A wide group of global civil society organisations issued a joint statement to demand human rights at COP29.<\/span><\/h5>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Call to PACE Bureau to prioritise release of Anar Mammadli” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/call-to-pace-bureau-to-prioritise-release-of-anar-mammadli\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
In a context of a notable intensification of repression occurring in Azerbaijan in the aftermath of the presidential election on 7 February 2024 and the parliamentary election on 1 September 2024, we call upon PACE to prioritise the release of Anar Mammadli ahead of COP29.<\/h5>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”European Civil Society Call Upon New Secretary General of Council of Europe to Prioritise Human Rights in Azerbaijan” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/european-civil-society-call-upon-new-council-of-europe-boss-to-prioritise-human-rights-in-azerbaijan\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
A wide group of European civil society organisations wrote to Alain Berset, new Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on his first day in office, calling upon him to prioritise the human rights crisis in Azerbaijan, marked by the detention of Vaclav Havel Award winner Anar Mammadli alongside over 300 other political prisoners.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Submission to the Committee of Ministers by prominent NGOs on the implementation of the Mammadli Group of cases highlights new arbitrary detentions in Azerbaijan” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/rule-9-2-submission-on-mammadli-group\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
On 8 August 2024, NGOs with a long-standing engagement on Azerbaijan and well-established legal authority submitted information to the Committee of Ministers on the continued nature of repression affecting the applicants of the Mammadli Group of cases of the European Court of Human Rights. The government of Azerbaijan has yet to fully execute the requested measures by the Court. The arrest of Anar Mammadli serves to illustrate the extent to which Azerbaijan remains distant from the implementation of the Court\u2019s rulings.<\/h5>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Anar Mammadli Campaign writes to UNFCCC boss ahead of COP29″ button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/anar-mammadli-campaign-writes-to-unfccc-boss-ahead-of-cop29\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
On the occasion of Anar Mammadli\u2019s birthday today, the Anar Mammadli Campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan wrote a letter to Mr Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who is in charge of securing that the conference of the parties to the convention takes place in an orderly manner.<\/span><\/h5>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Ahead of COP29: Climate of repression in Azerbaijan must stop” button_text=”READ MORE” button_link=”https:\/\/free-anar.site\/ahead-of-cop29-climate-of-repression-in-azerbaijan-must-stop\/” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”–et_global_heading_font||||||||” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
As Azerbaijan prepares to host the next UN Climate Change conference, COP29, a group of distinguished Azerbaijani human rights defenders have launched a joint campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n
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Victims of a Decade of Repression Going Unheard, a Roadmap for Europe As the Parliamentary Assembly prepares to adopt a new text on the silencing of independent voices in Azerbaijan, its findings echo what our Campaign has documented: a decade of repression. The case of Anar Mammadli shows the human cost of Europe’s silence. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-31217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crisis-update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31217"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31225,"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31217\/revisions\/31225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.endrepression-az.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}