Defending Human Rights in Azerbaijan: Steadfast Determination in the Face of Repression

10 December 2019

Azerbaijan is a country in which the global human rights paradigm, and space for civil society more broadly, is under attack. It is, to quote Netherlands Helsinki Committee Executive Director, Pepijn Gerrits, “one of the most difficult environments in the world to work as a human rights defender (HRD).” The government’s continued attempts to curtail independent civil society and human rights were most recently showcased in October 2019 when the Police violently disrupted two separate peaceful protests in Baku, with protestors being beaten, forced into buses and detained