Azerbaijan

As a member of the Council of Europe, Republic of Azerbaijan has committed to respect basic freedoms, human rights and democracy. In spite of this commitment, human rights violations continue to be numerous and widespread and occur on a systematic basis.

Protesters face an extra three months in prison without trial.

21 member organisations of the Civic Solidarity Platform signed a joint letter to Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso with a request to raise human rights issues during their meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels.

One month ago today, Azerbaijani youth activist Ilkin Rustemzade was arrested on politically motivated hooliganism charges in connection with a Harlem Shake video filmed in Baku. Rustemzade is one of more than 80 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

A group of Londoners staged a Harlem Shake protest in front of the Azerbaijani Embassy on 13 July to call for the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. The protest was organised by the Art for Democracy campaign, ARTICLE 19, and Index on Censorship.

President Aliyev’s signing the draconian amendments to the Criminal Code that make defamation over the Internet a criminal offense represent a major blow to freedom of expression in the already tightly controlled environment.

The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) is disappointed that more than fifty U.S.

The Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and Media Rights Institute (MRI) are dismayed that the reform of Azerbaijan’s ‘chilling’ defamation laws to prevent authorities from silencing their critics risks being derailed.

The Index Award-winning Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov says he had been threatened by the family of a man who was arrested after an online posting.

Sing for Democracy song competition launched in early February has been successfully completed. Eight songs of a critical nature dedicated to the topics of democracy, human rights, rule of law and social problems were submitted for the contest.