In a context of a notable intensification of repression occurring in Azerbaijan in the aftermath of the presidential election on 7 February 2024 and the parliamentary election on 1 September 2024, we call upon PACE to prioritise the release of Anar Mammadli ahead of COP29.

On 8 August 2024, NGOs with a long-standing engagement on Azerbaijan and well-established legal authority submitted information to the Committee of Ministers on the continued nature of repression affecting the applicants of the Mammadli Group of cases of the European Court of Human Rights. The government of Azerbaijan has yet to fully execute the requested measures by the Court. The arrest of Anar Mammadli serves to illustrate the extent to which Azerbaijan remains distant from the implementation of the Court’s rulings.

On the occasion of Anar Mammadli’s birthday today, the Anar Mammadli Campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan wrote a letter to Mr Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who is in charge of securing that the conference of the parties to the convention takes place in an orderly manner.

As Azerbaijan prepares to host the next UN Climate Change conference, COP29, a group of distinguished Azerbaijani human rights defenders have launched a joint campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan.