On 13 January, the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its World Report for the year 2021, giving a review of human rights in the countries around the globe.
In its report on Azerbaijan it was stated that the human rights situation after the second Nagorno-Karabakh War, prosecution of the political opposition, freedom of expression, gender-based violence, as well as reports of torture and ill-treatment in detention were the major human rights concerns in the country in 2021.
When it comes on the human rights situation after the Second Karabakh War, HRW highlighted the issues of landmines Azerbaijan’s regained regions as well as the status of the prisoners of war (POWs). It was reported that in August, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan said that since the ceasefire, 23 Azerbaijani civilians have been killed and 36 were injured by anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines laid in areas that had previously been under Armenian forces’ control.
In terms of POWs, HRW wrote that Azerbaijani forces subjected numerous Armenian POWs to physical abuse and acts of humiliation. In the year 2021, Azerbaijan returned more than 100 Armenian POWs and civilian detainees, but according to the Armenian Ombudsman, 41 Armenian POWs remain in custody. Although Azerbaijani authorities consistently claimed that all remaining Armenian soldiers in custody were terrorism suspects, they dropped terrorism charges during the trials against several dozen and convicted them for illegal border crossing and weapons possession.
As far as the prosecution of political opposition in the country is concerned, HRW named the cases of several members of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (APFP), including Niyameddin Ahmedov, Said Mamedzade Bakuvi, Bakhtiyar Imanov, Asif Yusifli, Ayaz Maharramli, Fuad Gahramnali, and Mammad Ibrahim, who were prosecuted in 2021. The case of the Musavat party member Tofig Yagublu, who is under a 30-month conditional sentence in house arrest was also highlighted in the report.
In the chapter about the freedom of expression, the court sentences of blogger Elchin Hasanzade and activist Ibrahim Salamov were underscored, as well as the report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) which alleged Azerbaijan has been spying on over a thousand independent activists and journalists, using Pegasus surveillance software that gave the government access to their phones.
Gender-based violence in Azerbaijan remained pervasive but underreported. Serious gaps continued in the official response including lack of protection and recourse for survivors. The Azerbaijani General Prosecutor’s Office released data showing that in the first half of 2021, 33 women in the country had been killed. According to women’s rights researchers, most were killed by their husbands, partners, or family members. The prosecutor’s office publicly encouraged women to use a government hotline to report violence.
In terms of torture ill-treatment in custody, the report stressed that Azerbaijani authorities typically dismissed such complaints and the practice continues with impunity. It was further elaborated that throughout 2021, details emerged supporting allegations that in 2017, military and security officials tortured detainees to extract confessions and other testimony on treason charges. Most of the arrests took place in Tatar region, against military personnel.
