This week, the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference starts. This event is regarded as highly significant by the Azerbaijani government. However, the opposition and government critics view it more as an issue that the government has brought upon itself.
After hosting international cultural and sporting events, such as the Eurovision Song Contest and Formula 1, which has been held in Baku since 2016, the Azerbaijani authorities decided to host the COP conference, where the UN regulates climate policy. They were aware that this would put them under scrutiny from international human rights organizations, Western institutions, and the media. Responding to questions from journalists from various countries at the Second Global Media Forum in Shusha in July 2024, President Ilham Aliyev stated that after the decision to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan, his colleagues warned him of the challenges ahead:
“Many people I discussed Azerbaijan’s chairmanship with—by which I mean my colleagues, heads of states and governments—warned me that this would be a major headache. But we clearly understood that we would be the target of criticism. We couldn’t predict what the accusations would be, but we were sure there would be plenty of them.”
As the conference date approaches, calls are intensifying for President Aliyev and the Azerbaijani government to release political prisoners. These calls are being made through various channels, including the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as the U.S. Congress and the Secretary of State. Leading international human rights organizations are demanding that, ahead of the COP29 conference, participants address the issue of political prisoners in their discussions with Azerbaijani officials. In particular, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a detailed report on the political situation and the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
“Governments participating in COP29 in Azerbaijan should make it clear that effective climate action requires the involvement of independent voices,” the organization stated.
“The government failed to achieve its goal”
Ilham Aliyev: “From an organizational standpoint, I don’t foresee any difficulties because our experience is quite extensive. But predicting the final outcome in advance is challenging.”
According to Ali Karimli, the chairman of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, the government has not achieved its goal with COP29. The opposition leader states that, thanks to the combined efforts of progressive forces, human rights activists, and representatives of free media around the world, the issue of political prisoners has gained even greater visibility.
“Now, it’s not only certain international organizations but also climate activists themselves who are saying that the Azerbaijani authorities must fulfill their human rights obligations. Unfortunately, thanks to Ilham Aliyev’s policies, the words ‘Azerbaijan’ and ‘political prisoners’ are used together. Wherever Azerbaijan or COP29 is mentioned—in statements or interviews—the issue of political prisoners inevitably comes up. The Azerbaijani authorities have failed to hide corruption, torture, and repression behind the shiny facades of hastily renovated streets in Baku. On the contrary, the whole world is now more aware than ever of the repressions in Azerbaijan.”
The previous two COP conferences were held in Egypt and the UAE. HRW notes that “for the third consecutive year, COP conferences are being held in countries where human rights are violated, and freedoms of speech and assembly are restricted.”
According to economist Toghrul Valiyev, COP29 could lead to some improvements in Azerbaijan’s environmental conditions:
“We see that there are serious environmental issues in Azerbaijan. And perhaps holding such events in Azerbaijan could have some impact on the country taking steps toward environmental policy. For example, we see that both the Absheron Peninsula and even the specific COP29 venue areas are in poor environmental condition. Additionally, the waste management and disposal system is poorly organized in Azerbaijan, and environmentally, we face serious challenges.”
Assessing Azerbaijan’s overall environmental situation, it’s hard to overlook the widespread pollution of air, water, and soil. On the other hand, industrial pollution leads to a decline in biodiversity and disrupts ecosystems.
“We don’t want to die”
In June 2023, news of a protest in the village of Soyudlu in Gadabay District seized public attention in Azerbaijan. Villagers were outraged by the construction of a second lake near an already existing lake filled with cyanide near a gold mining plant. They demanded a halt to the construction, claiming it brought sickness and death to the local population.
“I live closest to the lake. I have four children. I take out loans to pay for their medical treatment. Let them see for themselves. Let them walk around the area for a bit and then leave. After 10 minutes, you start feeling dizzy. How do you think it is for my young children?”
“In one month, we had 18 deaths here; we buried 18 people—all from cancer,” said the residents of Soyudlu, demanding that their issues be addressed.
A rapid response unit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was deployed to suppress the protests. However, the harsh preventative measures taken against the protesters only fueled their anger. A few independent media outlets and civil society representatives, mainly from the capital, arrived in the village the following day to listen to residents’ grievances and bring their voices to a wider audience. One of them, independent journalist Elmeddin Shamilzade, recalls that day as follows:
““This was the culmination of a 10-year process, and the path leading to this climax lasted one month. In one part of the village, there is a gold mine, and in the other—a cyanide lake, which they were trying to expand. Since safety wasn’t considered when the lake was created, they simply surrounded it with concrete ‘blocks’ and filled it with water. There are leaks from there; they flow into the river and mix with the drinking water… People protested because they didn’t want to be poisoned; the people there simply didn’t want to die. Through their protest, they were saying: don’t kill us.”
“The police officer said he would rape me. That’s when I gave him my password.”
Representatives of independent media covering the events in Soyudlu soon faced obstruction from the police. Many of them were forcibly expelled from the village. Among them, the correspondent of the online publication AbzasMedia, Nargiz Absalamova, who is currently under arrest, was also subjected to pressure.
Before the police expelled him from the village, Elmeddin Shamilzade managed to film a video that would soon have a significant impact on his life:
“The police unit that was there the day before returned to the village the next day, and I seized the opportunity to film their faces. I filmed the faces of some of them before they put on their masks and posted these photos online. There were a lot of views. When I got home, the police were already waiting for me at my door. They didn’t just detain me—they kidnapped me. They grabbed my arms, threw me into a car, and took me to the station. There, they demanded that I delete the posts about the police officers, and when I refused, they started threatening, insulting, and beating me. But I managed to outsmart them, not giving them my phone password, hiding the photos, and getting my phone back. They didn’t stop there. They took me to a cell in the station, then brought me back, and one of the officers said he would rape me. That’s when I gave him my password.”
A few days after his release, the journalist was called back to the police. Fearing arrest, he was forced to leave the country.
Human rights defender Samir Kyazymly believes that the few remaining independent media outlets and civil society representatives still in Azerbaijan worry the government, which is taking a series of restrictive measures to punish them:
“One of the main reasons Azerbaijani authorities suppress independent media and civil society is to prevent anyone from speaking out or highlighting issues.
The events in Soyudlu were a serious incident in the country over a certain period of time and caused a significant public outcry. Civil society and media covered it. Although their activities had been restricted for many years, this became a very serious event. And the Azerbaijani authorities decided that they needed to tighten the pressure even more, to limit them further. Because they can still set the agenda in the country, they can still identify problems. The authorities saw that there are still a few independent media outlets and a small civil society in the country that can raise awareness about issues. And that’s why they’ve started taking measures to limit them again.”
Two arrests with different charges
Twenty days after the events in Soyudlu, President Ilham Aliyev broke his silence on the matter, condemning the activities of the gold mining plant and criticizing the government agencies responsible for overseeing these activities:
“Apparently, they either made a deal with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources or did it on their own. This must be seriously investigated. All instructions have been given. Instructions have been given to the prosecutor’s office and other relevant bodies. When I heard about this, I called the Prime Minister and instructed him to immediately create a commission and send them to the scene. What was I supposed to say about this?!”
One of the key points in Ilham Aliyev’s response was the president’s expressed confidence that citizens were resisting the police, while the police acted properly, not exceeding their official authority:
“Some of these provocateurs are hiding in Azerbaijan, others abroad. Those in Azerbaijan have already been identified, and some of them have been held accountable. We will hold accountable those who are abroad as well. Let no one think that we have forgotten about this. Chaos, arbitrariness, and provocative actions in Azerbaijan ended in 1993. If someone has forgotten this, we can remind them. Therefore, citizens should also show culture, behave decently, they must obey the law, and they should not throw stones at the police. Throwing stones at the police will not bring anything good to anyone. That’s the first thing. And secondly, it’s a crime. If Azerbaijani police show tolerance, it doesn’t mean that anyone can throw stones at them. This is absolutely unacceptable. I tell everyone: we have no intention of being lenient with anyone, and if necessary, we will punish whoever needs to be punished in a way that they will deeply regret.”
A week before the president’s statement, former deputy from the Gadabay district, Nazim Baydamirli (Mamedov), was arrested on charges under Article 182.2.4 of the Criminal Code (extortion in large amounts by a group of people acting in collusion). The former deputy links his arrest to his active posts on social media during the events in Soyudlu and calls himself a “prisoner of ecology.”
Soyudlu resident Joshgun Musaev, who organized the production of posters for the protest, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of drug trafficking. The day after the protest in Soyudlu, he was detained and first taken to the Ganja City Department of the State Security Service, and then to Baku, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Department for Combating Organized Crime. Radio “Azadlıq” quotes Joshgun Musaev:
“In Ganja, they searched me at the State Security Service building, and if I had had any drugs with me, they would have found them right there. After spending one night in the ‘bandit department,’ the next morning they took me to Narimanov Park. There, I sat on a bench, just as I had been instructed, while they filmed from a distance. Later, I learned that this was actually a script to prove that I was allegedly detained in Baku.”
President Ilham Aliyev stated that several people in the country were held accountable, but both individuals claiming to have been punished in connection with the Soyudlu incident were arrested on other charges.
Human rights defender Samir Kyazymly explains the discrepancy between the real reason for the arrests and the charges:
“After the events in Soyudlu, various publications appeared in pro-governmental media claiming that it was allegedly an ordered event. The government had to come up with some kind of scenario and make someone responsible. Nazim Baydamirli was a deputy from Gadabay, a representative of the local intelligentsia, who from time to time raised issues in this region, so the authorities considered him suitable for this role in the script. They chose him as the victim. As far as I know, Nazim Baydamirli reacted to these events. But of course, if he had been arrested specifically because of the events in Soyudlu, it would have been clear that it was a government script. So they acted differently, launching a ‘backup slander mechanism’ of denunciation. But everyone already knows — including those who arrested him — that if it hadn’t been for what happened in Soyudlu, Nazim Baydamirli wouldn’t have been arrested.”
In Samir Kyazymly’s view, the government, which punishes those who raise environmental issues instead of addressing them, is not sincerely interested in climate matters, despite hosting COP29 in the country:
“Both civil society and independent media should be working on solving environmental problems. And the government must do certain work, create certain conditions. And this work cannot be limited to administrative resources. If you disable independent media and civil society and organize a major event for solving environmental problems, it looks, let’s say, not very good, unconvincing…”
According to a number of experts, there are very few independent NGOs in Azerbaijan that focus on environmental issues. Journalists, facing various restrictions, find it difficult to cover these topics. Two media organizations, Abzas Media and Toplum TV, which covered the environmental problem in Soyudlu, faced persecution from the authorities. Their staff were arrested, and the editorial offices were shut down. One of the arrested individuals, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Training Institute, Anar Mamedli, was also preparing for the COP conference.
International human rights expert Florian Irminger, who closely monitors the activities of Anar Mamedli, believes the government attempted to silence independent voices ahead of COP29:
“He has been arrested for the second time on blatantly political grounds. This arrest came just a few weeks after he, along with other human rights defenders, established a climate justice initiative as part of the preparations for COP. This is one of the indicators of the desire of people to participate in public discussions around COP.
They created a climate justice initiative, but the government interfered because it doesn’t want independent voices to even talk about environmental or climate justice. However, the fight against climate change is impossible without an open civil space.
We hope for a large number of high-level participants. We hope for the participation of civil society and want the organizers of COP29 to publish the agreement with the host country, so that we know what Azerbaijan is responsible for, as it has not yet been made public. We urge the Azerbaijani government to allow gatherings during COP without any restrictions, so that the country’s civil society can participate in this event in all its diversity.”
Florian Irminger hopes that, ahead of COP, journalists and other political prisoners will be released. And he is not the only one harboring this hope—this narrative occasionally circulates in Azerbaijani society. The West is demanding that Azerbaijan soften its policies and stop the repression. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is turning to harsh rhetoric in its negotiations with the West, strengthening ties with Russia and China, and elevating cooperation with BRICS to the highest level.
Commenting on Azerbaijan’s bid to join BRICS, the opposition calls it an attempt to enter the “club of authoritarians.”
According to Florian Irminger, Azerbaijan is hosting this event from a purely technical perspective, and it will open the way for discussions on both improving the country’s environmental situation and normalizing its political climate.
Official Baku, in turn, considers the holding of COP29 extremely important for Azerbaijan and rejects any discrediting of the event with other issues.
With support from Mediaset.
