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At the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation raised the case of Azerbaijani human rights defender Anar Mammadli, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison following earlier engagement with UN mechanisms, and called for further UN action to address reprisals against human rights defenders.

Statement by Maria Dahle, Human Rights House Foundation’s Director in reaction to today’s sentencing of human rights defender Anar Mammadli in Azerbaijan.

Uttalelse fra Direktør i Human Rights House Foundation Maria Dahle etter dagens dom mot menneskerettighetsforsvarer Anar Mammadli i Aserbajdsjan:

Sara Rahimova is an Azerbaijani human rights defender and a board member of the Labour Desk Confederation of Trade Unions, working on women’s rights, workers’ rights, and environmental rights. Rahimova was selected to be portrayed in the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photography series by Human Rights House Azerbaijan.

Human Rights House Foundation joins the undersigned organisations in expressing serious concern over credible reports of ill-treatment, intimidation and the denial of adequate medical care affecting five Azerbaijani journalists: Aytaj Ahmadova (Tapdig), Ulviyya (Ali) Guliyeva, Aysel Umudova, Khayala Aghayeva and Nargiz Absalamova.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and Human Rights House Azerbaijan welcome the adoption of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resolution “Silencing critical voices in Azerbaijan”, and calls for urgent follow-up to protect human rights defenders, journalists, civil society and critical voices inside Azerbaijan and in exile.

At the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement warning that surveillance, spyware, and emerging AI-assisted surveillance technologies are increasingly being used to restrict civic space and intimidate civil society actors across the Network of Human Rights Houses and beyond.

At the OSCE’s second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting of the year, HRHF urged the OSCE Participating States to strengthen legal safeguards against digital threats to civic space, as well as calling for the OSCE to establish a formal mechanism to monitor and report on reprisals against civil society for engaging with the institution. HRHF also called for additional steps to be taken to address rising threats to civic space, including for various stakeholders to review their own digital practices in order to not undermine the security and safety of civil society.

At the first of the OSCE’s key human rights forums of the year, HRHF worked with civil society partners from the Network of Human Rights Houses and beyond to continue to raise the issue of reprisals and threats against human rights defenders across the OSCE region, as well as highlighting the situations in Georgia and Serbia via side events co-organised with partners.