A shameful case: we are the first and only country in history excluded from OGP (Open Government Partnership)

On August 17, Azerbaijan was completely excluded from the Open Government Partnership (OGP). For many years, since 2016, the OPG has maintained Azerbaijan's membership in the organization in an inactive status. In this regard, civil society in the country has begun to lag behind in its development and there are restrictions in this area. The organization asked the Government of Azerbaijan to submit a plan to lift restrictions related to civil society. The OPG stated that she had given Azerbaijan time several times to make progress in the field of civil society, otherwise the country would be removed from the platform.

OGP stated that it had given Azerbaijan time several times to make progress in the field of civil society and made it clear that if progress was not achieved, the country would be removed from the platform.

The decision of the structure, adopted on August 17, also states that the organization is very disappointed that Azerbaijan could not fulfill the conditions of its stay in the partnership and that the conditions for the activities of the civil society remain difficult.

The chairman of the Society of Women for Rational Development, Shahla Ismail, answers the questions of ASTNA concerning the prospects for the development of civil society in Azerbaijan.

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Question: As it became known, Azerbaijan has been completely excluded from the Open Government Partnership. How did we get to such a life?

Answer: First of all, it should be noted that the Open Government Partnership is a global partnership of 75 countries and 104 local authorities that work with thousands of civil society organizations to create more open, inclusive and accountable governments. Azerbaijan joined the OGP in 2011 and, like other countries, assumed a number of obligations. These commitments consisted of fundamental tasks, such as promoting "Open Government", strengthening citizens, fighting corruption and strengthening the governance system. Governments that have joined this multilateral initiative should be ready for reforms, respect human rights, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, democracy, good governance, transparency and accountability.

Everything could have developed in a prosperous direction, but in 2014, decisions were made in Azerbaijan aimed at destroying civil society, legislation changed, investigations began, civil society leaders were arrested or persecuted, travel bans were imposed from the country, and so on... These innovations have led to the destruction not only of civil society, but also of donor and international organizations operating in the country. The result of this was that in 2014-2015

More than 50 international and donor organizations have left Azerbaijan, hundreds of national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have frozen their activities.

In 2015, a number of civil society organizations sent a joint letter to the OGP in connection with the current situation. Having studied the situation, having learned that civil society in the country is really paralyzed, the OGP transferred Azerbaijan's membership in active status to inactive in 2016, giving the government a year to correct the situation. During this year, no serious measures were taken, except for two cosmetic steps. After that, for about a year - during 2018, the OGP did not make a decision to completely deprive Azerbaijan of membership. On the one hand, it was necessary to completely terminate the membership of the non-fulfilling state, and on the other hand, the termination of membership reduced the possibility of influencing the government of Azerbaijan to zero.

During that period, there was also a complete polarization of positions in Azerbaijani society and in civil society. One part, very strongly opposed to the government, advocated its "exclusion", while the other considered this "punishment" a double punishment for Azerbaijan as a whole and assessed the continuation of membership as a chance for change. I belonged to the second group and was a supporter of continuing the dialogue between the OGP and the government. I remember that at that time even disagreements with some of our more radical colleagues aggravated our personal relations, as they did not believe that the Azerbaijani government would carry out reforms... Unfortunately, time has shown that they were right...

But back to the process. Thus, in December 2018, the Steering Committee of the OGP decided to extend the status of passive membership of Azerbaijan, and the Government of Azerbaijan was given another 2 years to change this worrisome situation. In the future, this time was extended again. The Government has also accepted these conditions through an Action Plan. As we have seen, the work we have done has not changed the overall picture, civil society has been working in a paralyzed state for 10 years. If of course it can be called a job... Moreover, the persecution of some public leaders, journalists and activists continues. According to the information we received from the steering committee of the OGP, the last straw that overflowed the cup of patience of the organization was the arrest of Gubad Ibadoglu. Thus, on August 17, 2023, the Steering Committee of the OGP completely excluded Azerbaijan from its membership. And although it was not a surprise, this decision was very sad and shameful for us.

Question: But the government has taken some steps. The "National Action Plan for the Promotion of Open Government for 2020-2022" was adopted. Have not these steps yielded results?

Answer: Yes, a number of steps have been taken. The Government has committed to implement 3 National Action Plans. In 2016, about 40 members of civil society were invited to the newly created at the national level OGP dialogue platform. This dialogue, which was supposed to lead the country to reforms, eventually had to end with the fulfillment of the commitments reflected in the National Action Plan... That is, the presentation and the promise were exactly like that... Our organization was one of the few independent organizations that received invitations to this Dialogue Platform, and then some of our colleagues attacked several independent organizations that joined this Platform - they accused us of complicity in imitation...

I admit, at the very beginning of the process, I really believed that the situation would get better. Rather, the scenario of its failure would have led us to such a disastrous conclusion that I could not think otherwise. For exactly a year, I regularly participated in most of the Platform's events, trying to make the maximum contribution to the process. I believed that regular communication with the government would resolve misunderstandings... But a few months later I realized that I was naive, there was no intention to correct the situation of civil society on the agenda. Since then, I have not attended a single meeting and openly stated the reason for this to the management of the Platform. I cannot say that nothing has been done over the years. As far as I know, some measures have been taken in the field of public services, open information, fiscal transparency, but nothing has really changed in the situation in which civil society is located.

Question: Why was  not the government interested in maintaining membership in the OGP? What shortcomings should it have eliminated, but did not do it?

Answer: The main condition has not been fulfilled – the change in legislation restricting the registration, activities and financing of civil society. For 10 years, the unfunded, supported, persecuted NGO sector, mostly its independent part, has been out of order. This situation did not arise by chance, it was created systematically. That is, in fact, there was no need to reform this sphere, the presence of political will was enough for the situation to change for the better in a matter of weeks.

Question: What does Azerbaijan lose or gain by leaving the OGP?

Answer: Firstly, exclusion from an influential and powerful international coalition is shameful. This decision was not spontaneous, for many years the Azerbaijani government has been given enough time to change the situation. We couldn't change, or rather didn't want to change, so we were excluded – everything is logical. The violation of logic is connected with the creators of this situation and their intentions. Let's see if we have a win.

The exclusion of Azerbaijan from membership in the OGP reduces the country in all global thematic indexes and drops the international authority of the government. The country is again negatively inclined in periodic reports, the lack of favorable conditions for development is once again emphasized. A country that does not meet the criteria of OGP acquires the image of a country in which there is no rule of law, transparent and accountable public institutions, and respect for human rights.

The talk is about an approach to Azerbaijan from the position of "double standards", but this decision justifies such an approach, and the arguments of unfriendly countries are strengthening. By such behavior, Azerbaijan artificially distances itself from the processes of global development. Judge for yourself, what benefits can a situation bring when we are practically isolated?

I don't like such comparisons, but I have to admit – unlike us, Armenia uses all the resources, capabilities and connections of the OGP platform very widely. Under the aegis of OGP values, civil society is forcing its government to radical reforms. Moreover, there are various claims to the renewed policy of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union.

What is happening today in the 6 member-countries of the Eastern Partnership has divided this region into two parts - Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are taking decisive steps towards EU membership; and Azerbaijan, Belarus and Armenia remain on the sidelines.

The situation with Belarus is already different, it remains nominally in the Eastern Partnership. Armenia, on the other hand, expects to make a serious breakthrough through reforms and does not want to remain on a par with repressive Belarus and Azerbaijan, which they consider an enemy. In this picture, the shameful exodus of Azerbaijan from such an influential coalition as the OGP brings us only harm. By the way, OGP is not an isolated case, Azerbaijan was forced to withdraw from the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) coalition in 2017 for similar reasons.

Q: Will it be possible to join OGP again? What steps should be taken to do this?

Answer: It's not easy, but it's possible. To do this, the Government of Azerbaijan must fulfill all the obligations specified in the previous Activity Plans. And most importantly, the regressive legislation that prevents the registration, activities and financing of civil society should be completely changed. Progress in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms, quality governance and transparency, the rule of law and public services should be recorded in the country, and evidence of real reforms should be presented. After that, Azerbaijan should be assessed for compliance with the Criteria of the Values of the OGP, including the Verification of the Values of Azerbaijan. If the result is positive, the membership procedures should be resumed from scratch and should receive the approval of the Steering Committee.

The scheme should be something like this, but it's hard to say with certainty, because we are the first and only country in the history of OGP that was deprived of membership. Therefore, although we have set a negative precedent, I hope that we will achieve a positive precedent.