Photo by Lloyd Alozie on Unsplash
Author’s bio: Arzu Geybulla, Independent Journalist
Jeyhun Bayramov, the Azerbaijani foreign minister, gave a speech at the UN General Assembly in which he spoke proudly about the country’s upcoming hosting of this year’s UN climate talks.
In fewer than 50 days, thousands of international guests will arrive in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku, for COP29. The Azerbaijan government has been busy making sure the city of three million people is ready to host tens of thousands of foreigners during the two most pivotal weeks in the international climate diplomacy calendar.
If you are unfamiliar with the country’s culture, then you should know that the standards of hospitality in Azerbaijan are high. Visitors are held in such high regard that they are treated like royalty.
Capacity vs opacity
However, this time, Baku city officials and the COP29 Presidency may be taking the comfort of its incoming international guests a little too far. In the run up to COP29 , much of central Baku looks like a massive construction site. The government is going to huge lengths in its attempt to beautify the city and the area around the Olympic stadium where the talks will take place. Wedding ceremonies near the venue are cancelled throughout the duration of COP29, schools have been instructed to issue mandatory holidays and public transportation routes will be restricted.
Locals in Baku are not ruling out COVID-like restrictions – which during the height of the pandemic required people to have permission slips in order to leave their homes at specific times. COP29, will also be taking place in a country, where four years on, land borders remain sealed off. Officials say border closures are here to stay at least for the duration of the event as a security measure, as the safety of international visitors is of paramount importance.
Azerbaijan is not new to hosting major international events. The city hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and has been running the Baku F1 Grand Prix since 2016 – last year they claimed to have sold out all the 30,000 tickets that were available for sale.
However, there are questions about whether the city is logistically ready to host what could be up to 80,000 attendees at COP29. The Olympic stadium has a 70,000 person capacity and the sudden surge in visa approvals could prove difficult.
The extent of opacity surrounding the planning of COP29 or the attempt by authorities to can not fully conceal what is really going on in the country away from the newly painted buildings and revamped streets.
Authoritarian regime 20 years on
No matter how hard it tries to conceal it all, no amount of paint or cement can conceal the fact that since November 2023, scores of independent and opposition journalists, political and civic activists, rights defenders and peace activists, as well as scholars and academics have been targeted with arrests en masse, many of whom are expected to remain in pretrial detention on bogus charges during COP29.
Let that sink in – while stakeholders convene at large tables, and engage in negotiations, local civil society representatives will remain locked up. Although, this too won’t be a first for those stakeholders as for a third year in a row, COP is taking place, not only in a fossil fuel producing nation but also in what human rights organisations have deemed to be an autocracy.
Within Azerbaijan, this has now become a pattern over the past two decades. Last year President Ilham Aliyev proudly marked twenty years in power. But while the President may claim his leadership has been successful -this has been at the exclusion of the rule of law and free and fair elections, with Aliyev’s government clamping down on freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly.
The two snap elections announced this year are an example. Both the Presidential election, which took place in February and the Parliamentary elections which took place in September were devoid of any real opposition and held in a restrictive environment. During the Presidential election, out of seven candidates on the ballot including President Ilham Aliyev, all six openly supported the incumbent during the campaign. Reports of fraud and violations were abundant except the Central Election Commission was not interested in investigating the cases further.
During the Parliamentary election there were repeated calls from independent candidates for the election results to be canceled in their constituencies following evidence of ballot stuffing and carousel voting among other allegations of fraud. Despite this the Central Election Commission stopped short of investigating these cases fully and only canceled results in a handful of polling stations, which did not change the outcome of the results. The ruling New Azerbaijan party secured a majority of 68 seats while the rest of the seats went to so-called independent candidates and parties known for their closeness with Aliyev’s regime.
Crackdown against government critics continues
Peace activist and scholar Bahruz Samadov was arrested just this past August. A month earlier, another young scholar, and researcher on ethnic minorities Igbal Abilov was also arrested. Both have been placed in pretrial custody on bogus treason charges.
Bahruz and Abilov are not the only scholars behind bars. Last summer, authorities deported and later arrested Fazil Gasimov, who was pursuing a PhD degree at Istanbul University. Fazil has been on a hunger strike for over three months, his health condition critical, while no budging on the prosecutor’s front, accusing Gasimov of alleged involvement in currency counterfeit.
Separately Journalists have been continually targeted by authorities. In August additional charges were leveled against all detained journalists who work for Abzas Media -a well known opposition media outlet.journalists, The authorities have so far brought seven criminal charges against these journalists. Abzas was targeted last November marking what is now described as the worst crackdown against civic groups to date according to human rights organizations.
This is to say that for anyone visiting Azerbaijan during COP29, it may look and feel like a city and country where life is normal, but beneath all the lights and behind all the beauty, a different kind of Azerbaijan exists—one in which even a mild criticism of the officials, institutions, and the ruling family may land you in jail, intimidated, or silenced. Just remember, appearances can be misleading.
