Freedom of association
Pro-government news agency accuses EU of illegally funding civil society
On 18th August, the press agency APA published an article alleging “illegal” funding of local civil society by the European Union and other international partners.
Civil society organisations in Azerbaijan face difficulties obtaining foreign funding due to restrictive legislation. Since 2015, the government has introduced cumbersome requirements for registering donors and foreign grants, requiring the engagement and approval of various government ministries.
However, according to the article, “experience shows” that Western donors do not follow these legal procedures, bypassing national legislation to “allocate funds to NGOs, organisations, and platforms of unknown status in various ways”. The article also claims that these projects undermine state institutions by jeopardising “national values” through their promotion of LGBTQI+, feminist and anti-war views, and alleges irregularities between the stated aims of the projects and the actual use of the funds.
Despite its claim to neutrality, the APA is widely seen as pro-government.
Azerbaijani activist begins new hunger strike in protest against the extension of his detention
In October 2023, Azerbaijani activist Bakhtiyar Haciyev, arrested in December 2022, started a new hunger strike in protest against the extension of his pretrial detention on charges of hooliganism and contempt of court.
In addition, in June 2023, the authorities added “illegal entrepreneurship, false entrepreneurship, forgery, use of forged documents and smuggling” to the list of charges against him, which he also denies. The US State Department has expressed concern about Haciyev's detention and health, stating that the allegations against him "should be understood as politically motivated."
Haciyev has a history of political activism and has previously been detained for participating in protests. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in 2011 for evading military duty. Despite multiple hunger strikes and a consistent refusal to admit guilt, his appeals for release have been denied.
Opposition council condemns state-sponsored violence and torture
In September 2023, the National Council of Democratic Forces of Azerbaijan issued a statement accusing the Azerbaijani law enforcement authorities of using torture and violence as a state tool to suppress dissent. The Council is an association of political opposition forces in Azerbaijan whose declared aim is the introduction of democracy and the rule of law as well as the integration of Azerbaijan into the Euro-Atlantic area.
The authors of the statement, quoted by Turan Agency, claim that more than 100 people who criticised the Azerbaijani authorities had been tortured in Azerbaijan. In its statement, the Council referred to three specific cases in which religious activists were reportedly tortured into confessing to crimes they did not commit.
The three cases mentioned in the statement are the following:
- Jeyhun Balashov, a member of the Muslim Union Movement, who was arrested in February 2023 on charges related to the acquisition and possession of narcotics, which he denies. In July, his family claimed that he was being denied food and had visible injuries and signs of torture. According to the statement, Balashov was tortured with electric shocks while detained and is now confined to a wheelchair as a result.
- Agali Yahyaev, another member of the Muslim Union Movement, whose disappearance was reported by family at the end of August 2023, who the statement claims “could not stand torture and confessed to crimes that he did not commit.” According to his sister, officers beat him with fists and batons, trying to coerce him to confess to the possession and sale of drugs, which he refused to do until they threatened to rape him with a baseball bat.
- Telman Asadullayev, akhund (religious leader) of a mosque the village of Khojahasan, who was also arrested on charges of drug possession in April 2023 and forced to confess under threat of sexual violence.