Amnesty International has called on the Azerbaijani government to release OC Media contributor Bahruz Samadov and other government critics targeted in the lead-up to Sunday’s snap parliamentary elections.

Samadov, a political analyst and outspoken advocate for peace with Armenia, was arrested on 21 August and charged with high treason over his contact with Armenian researchers and peace activists. Similar charges were filed against Talysh minority researcher Igbal Abilov in July. 

In their statement, Amnesty International South Caucasus Researcher Natalia Nozadze urged the international community to condemn Samadov’s arrest ‘in the strongest possible terms’.

‘The alarming new arrests and detentions targeting government critics must not be overlooked’, she said. ‘The targeting of journalists and activists is nothing short of an attempt to silence dissent and suppress freedom of expression, particularly of those who are advocating for peace with Armenia’.

Giyas Ibrahim, an Azerbaijani peace activist, told OC Media that Samadov’s arrest was part of a general repressive wave which has been ongoing since last year.

‘It seems like the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is stuck, it is probable there will be a new escalation towards Armenia. In that case, the voices of those who speak out against war should be cut, because people will not support the government in case of a second escalation’, Ibrahim said. 

Repression in the lead-up to COP29

In the statement from Amnesty International, Nozadze emphasised that ‘it is imperative that world leaders hold the [Azerbaijani] government accountable for its ongoing human rights abuses’ as the country gears up to host the COP29 UN climate conference in November.

Nozadze also called for the ‘immediate and unconditional release of all those detained merely for exercising their human rights’, and urged Azerbaijan to publish the recently signed COP29 Host Country Agreement.

On 16 August, pro-government media reported that the final text of the Host Country Agreement, concluded between the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Azerbaijan, had been fully agreed upon. However, neither the Azerbaijani government nor the UN have published this document. 

In late April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating that human rights violations in Azerbaijan were ‘incompatible with the country’s preparations to host COP29’ and demanded the organisers ‘ensure that human rights, fundamental freedoms and effective civil society participation are fully enshrined and guaranteed in the Host Country Agreement’.

According to Ibrahim, despite the possibility the ongoing repression would harm the government’s reputation, Azerbaijan would not change track, and instead continue to violate human rights. 

‘Holding COP29 cannot be a means of preventing these things, since this event has already lost its essence, and is able to be abused by states like Azerbaijan’, he said. 

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