A year ago, on July 23, 2023, a renowned Azerbaijani economist, opposition leader, and human rights defender was severely beaten by police and imprisoned while visiting the country.
A year later, he’s still arbitrarily detained on bogus charges.
That man is our father, Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu.
After publishing an article criticizing Azerbaijan’s oil and gas policies, he was arrested on false charges of the production, acquisition, or sale of counterfeit money by an organized group. Since then, charges related to “extremism” have been added. In our attempts to bring attention to his unjust imprisonment, sometimes people ask if there is any validity to these charges. There is no validity, truth, or proof for these allegations. Further, similar charges have been brought against at least 18 other individuals, including journalists, academics, and political activists, as documented by two Azerbaijani activists who themselves are former political prisoners. It’s part of a pattern clearly outlined in the U.S. State Department’s annual human rights report for 2023.
Even European leaders, who have become more dependent on Azerbaijan’s energy supplies as they seek to wean their countries off Russian oil and gas, as well as the U.S. government, recognize the unjust treatment of our father. After his arrest last year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for his “immediate and unconditional release” and for him to receive the medical care he was being denied. He was finally released from prison in April but remains under house arrest, and a rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe human rights body called for all politically motivated charges against him to be dropped. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken further appealed directly to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in April, calling for our father’s “full, expeditious release.”
Given this abysmal human rights record by an oil-funded authoritarian regime, many might raise their eyebrows at the selection of Azerbaijan as the location for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in the capital, Baku, this November. The high-level international conference brings together global leaders from the financial, environmental, energy, and development sectors to discuss limiting the impacts of climate change and mobilize to build a more sustainable global future.
This year’s location falls in line with a concerning trend: COP27 was hosted in Egypt, and COP28 was hosted in UAE, both countries with horrific records on human rights and with significant histories of intimidation and harassment of climate activists.
Azerbaijan’s COP29 seems poised to be another case of the international community protesting only rhetorically against the human rights and environmental abuses of a host government and its dictator. In the run-up to hosting the conference, Azerbaijan has only further escalated its campaign to silence experts and critics seeking to expose the truth like our father and countless others, such as pro-democracy activist Anar Mammadli.
So it is oxymoronic that Azerbaijan is hosting COP29. With Azerbaijan squarely in the center of the climate change conversation in the lead-up to the conference, the Aliyev regime has an opportunity to demonstrate that it actually cares about being a climate change leader. Instead, it thumbs its nose at the international community with blatant corruption, such as the notorious “Azerbaijani Laundromat” uncovered by a global investigative journalism network and with arrests of those who investigate its oil and gas industry and the subsequent negative environmental impact.
The government’s ruthlessness is painful and astounding. Our father, Gubad, has significant health issues, including high blood pressure and possible diabetes, and has been denied critical medical treatment, including life-saving surgery, while he has been imprisoned and under house arrest. The government denied him basic rights such as going outside and receiving basic wellness checks that are allowed for other prisoners. Until very recently, our father was unable to leave his home or seek medical care. He was allowed to visit the U.S. Embassy last month to discuss his health situation in the hopes of some assistance, but unfortunately he remains in need of critical care. The government is persistent in its dedication to silencing him and punishing him for speaking out against its policies.
From L-R, Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu’s son Ibad Bayramov, daughter Zhala Bayramova, wife Irada Bayramova and son Emin Bayramli, on December 31, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Emin Bayramli)
Our father is not the only family member targeted by the Azerbaijani government. During his arrest, the Azerbaijani police beat our mother, leaving her with 30 percent of the right side of her body non-functional. When confronted with the mistreatment of our mother, the government issued a falsified statement claiming that she wasn’t beaten but rather coincidentally fell from a high distance – nonsensical considering they had been stopped by the authorities while in their car. Our mother is not a vocal critic but clearly was targeted because of her relationship with Gubad. This exemplifies the culture of fear and the chilling reality of being an activist in Azerbaijan – not to mention too many other places in the world.
COP 29 should be a space that welcomes conversation and criticism as people strive for a better future, not one that intimidates and silences voices trying to help solve those problems. The Aliyev regime must release our father and other political prisoners arrested on fabricated charges. Our father’s record as a human rights and climate defender has taught us to fight for those who don’t have a voice. It’s time for all of us across our societies to come together to act as his voice and the voice of the hundreds of other political prisoners in Azerbaijan.