Arrests, Challenges, and Reactions

The arrest of human rights defender Rufat Safarov, the state of human rights in the country after COP29, the attitude of international organizations and the West toward these developments, as well as the authorities' reaction, were discussed on the program "Complex Questions" by Azar Gasimli, head of the Institute of Political Management.

According to Gasimli, Rufat Safarov was arrested because of his work defending citizens' rights, particularly those of political prisoners. Unfortunately, this is neither the first nor the last arrest of a human rights activist.

Gasimli believes that the Azerbaijani authorities are systematically dismantling all democratic institutions in the country and destroying independent media. Parliamentarism in Azerbaijan no longer exists. The authorities are determined to exclude "outsiders" from participating in elections and silence critical voices. They want the country to be governed as it was in the Soviet Union or as it is in Turkmenistan.

He noted that the situation has fundamentally changed. In previous years, ahead of elections, there were certain relaxations, such as the release of political prisoners. Now, however, arrests are carried out not only before elections but even during them.

"In the past, preventive arrests were made, turning the detained into bargaining chips. Now this is no longer the case. The geopolitical alignment has shifted. Since 2007, they have aligned themselves with Russia, and since 2020, they have been tightening the screws. Over the last two years, this process has intensified even further. The goal is to prevent democracy from taking root in the South Caucasus," Gasimli stated.

He argued that Azerbaijan is transitioning from authoritarianism to dictatorship, with only one step left to complete this transition.

Gasimli also criticized the policies of certain Western countries toward the Azerbaijani authorities.

"Some Western countries simultaneously support the Azerbaijani authorities and issue condemnatory statements. If they do not accept the policies pursued by Azerbaijan’s leadership, they should be consistent. When PACE adopts a resolution on human rights violations in Azerbaijan, they link it to the Karabakh issue. This is fundamentally wrong. Meanwhile, the Council of Europe's Commission does not respond to this resolution in any way," he said, adding that the resolution itself is long overdue.