Eurasianet.org: Azerbaijan’s status in Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative downgrades to candidate
Azerbaijan’s status in a prominent international transparency organization has been downgraded. Representatives of the group cited Azerbaijani authorities’ ongoing crackdown on individual liberties as the reason for the demotion, Eurasianet.org reports citing the international organization EITI (the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative).
Azerbaijan had been an EITI member since 2003. The organization comprises companies, governments and civil-society groups and is dedicated to promoting greater transparency about state revenues earned from energy extraction and mining operations. Also inherent in membership is a commitment by member states to uphold basic liberties, in particular freedom of the press and broad access to information, the article reads.
According to the article, on April 14, EITI’s board deemed Azerbaijan was falling short in fulfilling the group’s obligations and downgraded the country from full member to candidate. To have its membership restored, Baku needs to “ensure that civil society in Azerbaijan can participate in the EITI in a meaningful way,” the Norway-based group’s chairperson, Clare Short, said.
Azerbaijan can be excluded from the organization at all for its treatment toward the human rights activists. The organization expresses a deep concern regarding the coercive measures the Azerbaijani authorities take up against human rights defenders. Short said Azerbaijan will be excluded in case it is does not improve the situation during 12 months.
According to the article, Azerbaijan’s troubles with the EITI date back to 2013, when some organization representatives expressed concern about a crackdown on government critics, and launched a probe into the country’s commitment to the transparency standard.
In the summer of 2014, a leading global watchdog group, Human Rights Watch, called for Azerbaijan’s expulsion from EITI. “Azerbaijan is blatantly violating EITI rules, and EITI cannot afford to be complicit in this hypocrisy,” HRW representative Lisa Misol said in an August 14 statement, as the article has it.
EITI’s downgrade of Azerbaijan can lead to the eventual suspension of Baku’s membership. Azerbaijani authorities have not yet reacted to the news, the article reads.
Related:
CPJ: By extending detention of Khadija Ismayilova Azerbaijani authorities are trying to silence her
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