La lettera inviata da Human Rights Watch all'Alto Rappresentante Ue Federica Mogherini in vista della prima edizione dei Giochi Olimpici Europei che si terranno in Azerbaijan dal 12 al 24 giugno.

1. Ms. Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission
European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Brussels, May 4, 2015
Dear High Representative Mogherini,
We are writing to convey our profound concern about Azerbaijan’s brutal, sweeping crackdown
on civil society and human rights work, and to urge you to provide the necessary leadership to
forge a robust, principled and coordinated response by the European Union (EU) and its 28
member states.
The EU has largely stood by as Azerbaijan has forged ahead with the most devastating
clampdown on human rights in its 24 years of post-Soviet independence. With the notable
exception of the European Parliament, the EU’s voice in the face of Baku’s relentless repression
has amounted to little more than occasional statements about individual cases.
The EU and its member states have yet to mount a firm, collective response to Baku’s shocking
trajectory, and articulate a clear, common stance on its implications for the country’s relations
with the EU – something the European Parliament also called for. Such a common position,
committing all member states and EU institutions to a single, coherent policy approach vis-à-vis
Azerbaijan, is acutely needed to exert maximum pressure on Baku to end its crackdown and
release those it has imprisoned on wrongful charges.
Azerbaijan’s human rights record, long marked by repression and abuse, reached crisis levels in
the past year, with the authorities imprisoning most of the country’s leading human rights
defenders and journalists on politically-motivated charges, and driving others into exile or hiding;
freezing the bank accounts of independent civic groups and their leaders (including those
funded by the EU’s European Endowment for Democracy); denying them access to funds by
refusing to register foreign grants; and adopting new, draconian legislation that has made it all
but impossible to carry out independent human rights work in the country. Taken together, these
developments have fundamentally transformed Azerbaijan’s human rights landscape, to the
point that it must now be considered through the lens of a closed country. Indeed, in late March,
our senior researcher covering Azerbaijan was barred from entering the country, the first time in
Human Rights Watch’s long history of working on Azerbaijan that we were denied access.
The shocking, but sadly predictable, unfounded convictions and jailing of leading human rights
defenders in recent weeks should spur the EU into long overdue action: on April 16, Rasul Jafarov,
a well-known outspoken human rights activist, was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, and a week
later Intigam Aliyev, among Azerbaijan’s most prominent and respected human rights lawyers,
was sentenced to 7.5 years. Statements by the EU rightly raised questions about the legality of
these rulings but failed to call for the two men’s convictions to be set aside as unsound and for
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2. their immediate release. The EU’s unequivocal position should be that these activists ought
never have been imprisoned in the first place, and should be unconditionally released.
At least 35 others are similarly behind bars on bogus charges. They include Leyla Yunus, a
veteran of Azerbaijan’s human rights movement and her husband, Arif Yunus, a well-known
historian; Khadija Ismayilova, a leading investigative journalist; and Anar Mammadli, the head of
an independent election monitoring group.
The imprisonment of most of Azerbaijan’s high-profile human rights defenders, journalists and
other independent voices has come in the lead-up to the inaugural European Games, which
Baku will host in June. The human rights leaders arrested in recent months had planned to use
the games to draw international attention to abuses and secure tangible human rights
improvements.
Indeed, the weeks leading up to Baku’s hosting of the Games focus the international spotlight
on Azerbaijan and provide a unique opportunity for the EU and its member states to collectively
press Baku to release wrongfully imprisoned human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists
and to take other steps to rectify its abysmal record.
The Azerbaijani government is determined to use the games to boost the country’s global
standing and President Aliyev’s personal prestige. It is difficult to underestimate how profoundly
the Azerbaijani leadership values the expected images of President Aliyev, flanked by European
government dignitaries in his capital city, presiding over the opening of a major international
sports event. From this the Azerbaijani leadership no doubt expects to reap political benefits, at
home and abroad, for years to come. For this reason the government is likely to be extremely
eager for EU member states to commit to sending high-level government delegations to the
opening of the Games.
We urge you to seize this moment by supporting and actively working to secure a strong and
unified response by the EU and its member states to the appalling state of human rights in
Azerbaijan. This response should challenge President Aliyev’s apparent calculation that the
imprisoning of human rights defenders, peaceful activists, and government critics will come at
no price. Such a response should:
 Make clear that no EU member state will be sending high level government delegations
to the opening ceremonies of the European Games in Baku unless those wrongfully
imprisoned are unconditionally released and the crackdown underway is brought to an
end.
 Underscore in the strongest possible terms the EU’s and its member states’ collective
concern about the government’s crackdown, and call on Baku urgently to reverse course.
Specifically, the EU should press the government of Azerbaijan to release, immediately
and unconditionally, all those wrongfully imprisoned and drop the politically motivated
charges against them; end its crackdown on civil society and human rights work,
including by unfreezing bank accounts of NGOs and their staff, and allowing civil society
organizations to receive foreign funding without unnecessary restrictions; and repeal
recently adopted legislation that further restricts rules for foreign funding of NGO work.
 Make clear that the prevailing situation is wholly unacceptable and that it cannot be
business as usual until the government takes the above steps. In practice, this approach
would involve putting on hold negotiations toward a “Strategic Partnership Agreement”

3. which the EU has been pursuing with Azerbaijan until Baku heeds these calls. Any future
advancement in relations between the EU and Azerbaijan should be clearly linked to
concrete measures on the part of the government to improve its abysmal record including
the release of imprisoned activists, lawyers and journalists.
The EU has repeatedly pledged to place human rights at the core of its relations with third
countries and stand up for those who defend human rights and rule of law. When adopting the
EU’s Strategic Framework for Human Rights and Democracy in June 2012, EU foreign ministers
pledged that the EU will continue “to throw its full weight behind advocates of liberty, democracy
and human rights throughout the world,” and in June 2014, they promised to “intensify” the EU’s
“political and material support to human rights defenders and step up its efforts against all form
of reprisals.” It is time for the EU and its 28 member states to give these welcome pledges
practical meaning by applying them in a firm, principled and committed policy approach to
Azerbaijan.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this pressing matter.
Sincerely,
Lotte Leicht Hugh Williamson
EU Director Director, Europe and Central Asia Division
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch
CC:
Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Mr. Alain Le Roy
Deputy Secretary General for the European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms. Helga Schmid
Deputy Secretary General for the European External Action Service (EEAS), Mr. Maciej Popowski
Commissioner for Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter
of Fundamental Rights / First Vice-President of the Commission, Mr. Frans Timmermans
Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations, Mr Johannes
Hahn
Commissioner for Energy Union, Mr. Maroš Šefčovič
Head of Cabinet of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy /
Vice-President of the Commission, Mr.Stefano Manservisi
Deputy Head of Cabinet of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy / Vice-President of the Commission, Mr. Oliver Rentschler
Chair of the EU’s Political and Security Committee, Ambassador Mr. Walter Stevens
Ambassadors to the EU Political and Security Committee
EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis
Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan, Amb. Anna Malena Mard
Managing Director for Europe & Central Asia, EEAS, Mr. Fernandez De La Peña
Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation and OSCE, Mr
Gunnar Wiegand
Head of Division for Eastern Partnership, Regional Cooperation and OSCE, EEAS, Mr. Richard
Tibbels
Head of Division for Eastern partnership – Bilateral, Mr. Dirk Schuebel
Director for Human Rights and Democracy, EEAS, Mr. Silvio Gonzato

4. Chair of the EU’s Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia (COEST), Mr. Petteri
Vuorimaki
Members of the EU’s Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia (COEST)
Chair of the EU’s Working Party on Human Rights (COHOM), Mr. Engelbert Theuermann
Members of the EU’s Working Party on Human Rights (COHOM)
President of the European Parliament, Mr. Martin Schulz
Vice-President of the European Parliament responsible for Democracy and Human Rights, Mr.
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff
Vice-President of the European Parliament of the European Parliament, Ms. Ulrike Lunacek
Chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Elmar Brok
Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, Ms. Elena Valenciano
Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia
Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, Mr. Sajjad Karim