Norwegian Human Rights House Foundation study on protection of human rights defenders

Baku/20.12.12/Turan: Human rights defenders in the countries of Central Asia, South Caucasus, Belarus and Ukraine have access to the protection infrastructure that includes various protection mechanisms. However, there is still a need for more targeted and accessible protection for LGBTQI rights activists, women's rights and gender equality defenders, environmental activists, journalists, and human rights defenders working in remote areas. 

This is stated in a report entitled: "Protection for Defenders in 2021: How to Improve Infrastructure to Help Human Rights Defenders at Risk" released by the Norwegian Foundation for Human Rights Houses on 20 December.

The study covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine are categorised as "hybrid democracies" and Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan as "authoritarian regimes".

When it comes to Azerbaijan, the report says that "the traditional work of NGOs is practically nullified by the legislation on NGO activity, and the receipt of grants and the space for public activity is limited and closed off.

Note that "NGOs are regularly penalised for using non-registered grants. These sanctions are applied arbitrarily by the authorities to silence critics.

To remind, most independent media platforms have been blocked since 2017. Since 2014, a massive wave of repression has been launched against all dissenters (political opposition, journalists, human rights defenders, human rights lawyers)," the study noted.

Approximately 100 political prisoners are behind bars in Azerbaijan. Many prominent civil society leaders and journalists either went abroad or were arrested on trumped-up criminal charges. Most had been released by 2019; however, as a whole the authorities' policies have weakened civil society.

"Azerbaijani civil society practically represents a community of individuals, which precludes the possibility of strengthening the institutional capacity of the sector. At that, there are new sprouts of activism, primarily among female human rights defenders", the report states.

Note that democratic governments play an important role in preventive advocacy work by calling on abusive states to honour their commitments to protect human rights defenders within the framework of the UN, EU, CoE and OSCE, the study says. -16В-