What changed

European Parliament resolution on the continued repression of civil society and independent media in Azerbaijan and the cases of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, Anar Mammadli, Kamran Mammadli, Rufat Safarov and Meydan TV

B100233/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the continued repression of civil society and independent media in Azerbaijan and the cases of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, Anar Mammadli, Kamran Mammadli, Rufat Safarov and Meydan TV

(2024/2994(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the EuropeanRule Convention150 on(5) Humanof Rights,its ratifiedRules byof Azerbaijan,Procedure,

– having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Gubad Ibadoghlu was arrested by Azerbaijani authorities in July 2023 and remained in detention until 22 April 2024, when he was transferred to house arrest; whereas Anar Mammadli has been in pretrial detention since 29 April 2024; whereas Rufat Safarov was arrested on 3 December 2024; whereas on 6 December 2024, several Meydan TV affiliated journalists were arrested;

A. whereas since 2023, the Azerbaijani authorities have been engaged in a systemic crackdown on civil society, political opposition, human rights defenders, the LGBTI+ community and independent media, which intensified around COP29;

B. whereas more than 120.000 Armenians were forced to flee their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh following the military offensive of Azerbaijan in September 2023; whereas several ethnic Armenians still remain in detention by the government of Azerbaijan;

B. whereas there are over 300 political prisoners in Azerbaijan as well as 23 Armenian prisoners of war, including leaders of the former self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic;

C. whereas the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) took place in Baku from 11 until 22 November 2024;

C. whereas political prisoner and 2024 Sakharov Prize finalist Gubad Ibadoghlu remains under house arrest; whereas the European Court of Human Rights ruled that his health condition is critical, requiring hospitalisation and urgent heart surgery;

D whereas European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Azerbaijan on 18 July 2022, with the commitment to double the country’s natural gas exports to the EU by 2027; whereas Azerbaijan’s natural gas exports to Europe have increased from 19 billion cubic meters in 2021 to 23.8 billion cubic meters in 2023;

D. whereas civil society leader Anar Mammadli has been in pre-trial detention since April 2024 on bogus charges, with his health deteriorating due to denied healthcare;

E whereas the bilateral relationship between the EU and Azerbaijan is governed by the EU- Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, in force since 1999;

E. whereas in early December 2024, the Azerbaijani authorities arrested MeydanTV journalists Aynur Ganbarova, Aytaj Ahmadova, Khayala Agayeva, Natig Javadli and Aysel Umudova, and journalists Ramin Jabrayilzade and Ahmad Mukhtar; whereas they also arrested Baku Journalism School deputy director Ulvi Tahirov, political leader Azer Gasimli and human rights defender Rufat Safarov; whereas all face unfounded, politically motivated charges;

1. Encourages Azerbaijan to give prisoners access to medical care; encourages Azerbaijan to release the ethnic Armenians that are still in detention, because of humanitarian reasons and as a step towards improving the relationship with Armenia;

F. whereas environmental activist Kamran Mammadli was attacked by security guards at COP29 and is banned from travelling;

2 Notes that the EU and Azerbaijan discuss issues of human rights in the framework of their partnership;

G. whereas prisoners’ human rights are routinely violated through detention in inhumane conditions, torture and specific harassment of female political prisoners, including Nargiz Absalamova;

3. Encourages the EU and its Member States to deepen their relationship with Azerbaijan in different fields; emphasises that energy supply should be freed from political and ideological debates;

1. Strongly condemns the Azerbaijani regime’s reported ongoing violations of human rights, including freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and its politically motivated abuse of the criminal justice system;

4. Urges the EU to be cautious in lecturing third states in the field of democracy and human rights, in the light of several negative developments in this area in different Member States; refers, in this regard, to the decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court of 6 December 2024 to annul the results of the first round of the presidential elections, in which a right-wing candidate obtained the most votes; is of the opinion that a credible external policy in the field of human rights and democracy prerequisites that the EU remedies its own deficiencies in this area;

2. Urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately end the crackdown on all dissident groups and unconditionally release and drop all charges against human rights defenders, journalists and political and other activists prosecuted under fabricated, politically motivated charges;

5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

3. Demands that the authorities immediately lift the travel ban on Ibadoghlu, unconditionally drop all charges against him and allow him to receive urgent treatment abroad; deplores the fact that Ibadoghlu was not allowed to attend the Sakharov Prize ceremony or connect remotely;

4. Calls on Azerbaijan to lift undue restrictions on independent media by aligning its laws on the registration and funding of non-governmental groups and media with Venice Commission recommendations; demands that the authorities end the repression of MeydanTV, ToplumTV, Abaz Media and Kanal13;

5. Calls for EU sanctions under its global human rights sanctions regime to be imposed on Azerbaijani officials responsible for serious human rights violations, including Fuad Alasgarov, Vilayat Eyvazov and Ali Naghiyev;

6. Insists that any EU-Azerbaijan partnership agreement – including on energy – must be strongly conditional on respect for fundamental rights and the release of all political prisoners; calls on the Commission to suspend the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, Member States and the President, Government and Parliament of Azerbaijan.