Brussels Urged to Press Rights Reforms in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Human Rights Watch)””European Union officials should press President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to free unjustly imprisoned political activists, journalists, and other government critics, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. EU officials should also urge Aliyev to end the crackdown on independent groups and allow them to operate without undue government interference.

Aliyev will be in Brussels on February 6 to inaugurate talks on a new partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU to enhance political and economic ties between them. He is set to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and other top EU officials.

“Time and time again, the EU has praised courageous human rights defenders, pledging to ”˜throw the EU’s full weight behind them,’”