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Eighteen international human rights organizations have issued a joint statement urging the Azerbaijani authorities to cease the politically-motivated prosecution and torture of journalists. The statement, signed by Helsinki Foundation for Human Right, Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Reporters Without Borders, World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), Netherlands and Norwegian Helsinki Committees and others, state that the government of Azerbaijan is carrying out a multi-pronged attack on freedom of expression, including introducing harsh penalties for critical speech online, imprisoning young activists for nothing more than graffiti, blocking access to websites of independent media, and harassing and violating the rights of journalists and activists.

“The undersigned organizations call upon the Azerbaijani authorities to reverse this alarming trend and respect basic human rights and freedoms, as well as for international partners to ensure Azerbaijan honours its treaty commitments as a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” reads the statement.

Human rights organizations reflect on the cases of the two young activists from the N!DA youth movement, Bayram Mammadov and Qiyas Ibrahimov, who were arrested after spray painting graffiti on a monument to Heydar Aliyev in Baku and arrested on spurious drug charges, the cases of the journalists Ikram Rahimov and Afgan Sadigov, quoting Robert Hårdh, Director of Civil Rights Defenders, as saying “the cases represent a serious deterioration in the rule of law in the country”.

The human rights watchdogs also slam the laws criminalising “online defamation or derogation of honor and dignity” of President Ilham Aliyev that was earlier adopted by the country’s parliament, labeling it as a “blatant attempt to clamp down on the only remaining space for Azerbaijani people to freely express themselves”.

The undersigned organizations call on the Azerbaijani authorities to cease the politically-motivated prosecution and torture of journalists, to repeal the new laws further criminalising dissent and free speech

“We call on Azerbaijan’s international partners to use their leverage, both bilaterally and through multilateral institutions, to hold Azerbaijan accountable to its international commitments,” reads the statement.