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Some observers say decades-old regimes strive to host sport's biggest events for purely power and prestige to legitimize oppression. "Sports mega-events are among the most prestigious. Sport appeals to all people everywhere, so it naturally draws the biggest audiences,'' said Rachel Denber, deputy director of Human Rights Watch. Beyond this new fascination with sport, Denber says that can also mean ignoring citizens' human rights. ''In Azerbaijan, we've actually seen significant regression in recent years. The past year, I would argue, has been the worst on record for human rights in Azerbaijan," she added, according to the official website of CNN.

According to CNN, Azerbaijan is hosting this summer's European Games, has a Formula One grand prix coming up, and is expected to try for the Summer Olympics in 2024.

According to Amnesty International UK press release, extensive research by Amnesty and other NGOs has revealed that the event is taking place against a backdrop of repression which has intensified in the run up to the opening ceremony. Anyone who criticizes the authorities is likely to find themselves arrested and jailed on trumped-up charges ranging from drugs or hooliganism to tax evasion and illegal business activity. There are now at least 20 prisoners of conscience in Azerbaijan, jailed simply for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. Many others have fled the country, or been intimidated to the point where they are too scared to speak out.

The press release reads that Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen wrote a letter to Lord Coe and asked him to use his influence to raise the organization’s concerns about a severe crackdown on freedom of expression with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and with the European Olympic Committees (EOC), under the auspices of which the Games are taking place. In the letter, Kate Allen highlighted that the organizers of the Games are paying the expenses of all travelling athletes, including Team GB. “While British athletes run, swim, jump and box, Azerbaijani nationals will be living in fear of swift and brutal reprisals if they dare to express a view at odds with government policy or that challenges or criticises the behaviour of the authorities. For an Olympic event that is supposed to promote peace, mutual respect and understanding, it seems the EOC is a long way from achieving that objective,” Allen writes.

One week before the opening ceremony of the first European Games, International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) calls on the European leaders to make the participation of their countries in the opening ceremony of the Games contingent upon the release of political prisoners and activists placed in pre-trial detention on trumped-up charges. “In the current context, the participation of European government representatives in the opening ceremony will be an affront to all activists detained in Azerbaijan and to the universal values they defend while risking their freedom and safety,” FIDH President Karim Lahidji declared.

Related:

Intn’l reaction: Azerbaijan spends enormous sums on EuroGames hiding poverty and human rights violations in country

CNN: Human rights activists call Azerbaijan ‘Land of Repression’ on eve of European Games which cost 10bn to Azerbaijanis