The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has urged Azerbaijan to protect journalists from attacks, threats and harassment linked to their work.
The Committee of Ministers adopted an interim resolution in the Khadija Ismayilova group of cases during its quarterly meeting to supervise the implementation of rulings from the European Court of Human Rights.
These cases concern Azerbaijan’s failure to protect the rights to private life and freedom of expression of an investigative journalist, Khadija Ismayilova, and to adequately balance the private life of two other applicants with the media’s freedom of expression.
Meeting last week, the Committee of Ministers agreed that urgent progress is needed to address the human rights violations concerning Ms Ismayilova that were identified by the European Court.
The Committee also underlined the need to ensure that she can carry out her work without harassment or hindrance.
More generally, the Committee of Ministers urged Azerbaijan to put in place effective measures to protect journalists, notably by ensuring human rights-compliant investigations into attacks.
In addition, the Committee called for concrete steps to bring Azerbaijan’s Media Law into line with Council of Europe standards.
The Committee of Ministers strongly invited the authorities to engage with the Council of Europe in order to achieve progress on these issues. The Committee asked Azerbaijan to submit an updated action plan by the end of June 2025.
