SHDM 1 SESSION I: Safeguarding Democracies: Democratic Lawmaking and the Role of International Actors
Monday 16 March 2026
Statement
(Check against delivery)
In this afternoon’s session, the panelists highlighted core democratic lawmaking standards which serve as essential safeguards against democratic erosion and rightfully articulated some of the ways that international and regional actors can support implementation of these standards at the national level.
What this session has perhaps overlooked are participating States which willfully ignore their OSCE commitments as well as the opinions, guidance, or judgments of international and regional actors. Azerbaijan is an important – but certainly not unique – example in the OSCE region.
Azerbaijan is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. At present, it has failed to implement 82% of judgements handed down by the European Court of Human Rights. One such judgement involves Anar Mammadli, a prominent human rights defender and head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center.
The Court found that his 2013 arrest and detention had been purely political and designed to silence him, after his organisation published a highly critical report on 2013 presidential elections in Azerbaijan – an election which was also heavily criticised by the ODIHR election monitoring mission. Anar was released in 2016. Despite the Court’s judgement, the Azerbaijani authorities have not quashed his conviction.
In December, the Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe stated that they “deplored the authorities’ continued silence and the persistent lack of progress” on this and 6 other cases against human rights defenders, civil society activists, and journalists.
Anar was arrested again in April 2024, following, among other activities, his participation in the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in this building, and remains in prison for his legitimate human rights work. We remind this body that his detention stands in violation of Azerbaijan’s OSCE commitments, is a reprisal for his human rights work, including at the OSCE, and we call for his release.
We further remind participating States that this organisation has no formal mechanism for monitoring and reporting on reprisals against individuals who cooperate with it. As democratic rollbacks and severe human rights violations continue to take place across the region, including in Belarus, Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, participating States must make every effort to protect human rights defenders engaging with the OSCE.
Against this backdrop, I’d like to ask the panellists the following question:
What steps can participating States and OSCE independent institutions take to protect human rights defenders, and other civic watchdogs, while they conduct their legitimate work to safeguard democracy and promote human rights?
