Open letter calling for the immediate release of Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu
We, the UNCAC Coalition and the 240 undersigned organizations and individuals from 88 countries across the globe, are deeply concerned about the unjustified arrest and extended imprisonment of Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu in Azerbaijan. Dr. Ibadoghlu is a prominent anti-corruption expert and human rights defender who has been active in the UNCAC Coalition and other civil society networks for many years and served as a Board Member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). We call for his immediate release as well as the release of other political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Dr. Ibadoghlu has exposed corruption in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector and advocated for transparency of the country’s public revenues. He also advocated for seizing Azerbaijani oligarchs’ assets that were stolen from the state and stashed offshore through money laundering schemes. In June 2023, Dr. Ibadoghlu established an education foundation in the United Kingdom with the goal of returning the confiscated assets to the people of Azerbaijan through scholarships for students.
Dr. Ibadoghlu has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan since 23 July 2023, when he was brutally beaten, arrested, and detained by police authorities on unsubstantiated charges of money counterfeiting and connection to terrorism. Despite the lack of evidence, his pre-trial detention has been extended twice, once on 16 November 2023, and most recently on 15 February 2024. After spending 9 months in a prison facility, on 22 April he was placed under house arrest in Baku and is still waiting for a trial. To date, Dr. Ibadoghlu’s contacts with his lawyers and his family have been restricted. His health, already fragile due to diabetes and high blood pressure, has deteriorated significantly in prison because he has been denied proper medical care. He is now at a high risk of having a heart attack and diabetic coma.
Therefore, the UNCAC Coalition and the undersigned organizations and individuals urgently call for the unconditional and immediate release of Dr. Ibadoghlu and for him to be given access to the medical care he desperately needs. We also urge the authorities of Azerbaijan – which will also host the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku later this year – to respect their international commitments regarding due process in the administration of justice and human rights, consistent with Articles 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 9.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 13 of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
Furthermore, the UNCAC Coalition expresses serious concern for all other human rights defenders, anti-corruption advocates, whistleblowers, journalists and other members of civil society who have been arbitrarily detained or are threatened by government authorities in Azerbaijan and in other countries across the globe. We call upon governments to respect international human rights standards, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, in order for civil society to operate without fear of intimidation, harassment, reprisals and persecution. Furthermore, we call upon governments and the international community to step up efforts to protect and defend Dr. Ibadoghlu and all other civil society members in Azerbaijan coming under attack for their anti-corruption work.