Considering ongoing human rights violations in Georgia and Azerbaijan, no credentials should be renewed without strict conditions. Anything less than decisive action would undermine the Council of Europe’s standing as the continent’s foremost human rights defender. PACE should seize the opportunity to press both governments on their poor human rights records. It should demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those unjustly imprisoned and the complete restoration of their civil and political rights.
Implementing corrective actions, such as releasing political prisoners and enabling civil society groups to operate freely, along with cooperation with the Council of Europe to fulfil its obligations, are clear initial steps before Georgia and Azerbaijan’s delegations should be allowed to resume their PACE activities. The Council of Europe should be prepared to activate its existing tools – such as Article 52 inquiries, infringement procedures, and the joint complementary process – if the states continue to disregard their obligations.
Benefitting from membership, violating obligations
In January 2024, PACE decided not to ratify the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation, citing the government’s failure to fulfil “major commitments” it made when it joined the Council of Europe. A year later, in January 2025, the Georgian delegation withdrew from PACE following the Assembly’s decision on its delegation’s credentials. PACE imposed conditions and suspended the rights of many members of Georgia’s delegation due to the “democratic backsliding” in the country. PACE’s decisions related solely to the credentials of the parliamentary delegations and did not affect the membership status of Georgia or Azerbaijan, both of which remain full members of the Council of Europe.
Since then, both governments have further intensified their systematic crackdowns on independent media, civil society, and political opposition. They refuse to cooperate in honouring their legal obligations with the institutions and monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe. As Azerbaijan marks 25 years of membership in the Council this January, persistent human rights violations continue to raise questions about its compliance with its standards.
According to a recent report by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), the government of Azerbaijan, while refusing to take corrective actions to renew credentials at PACE, continues to engage selectively with other Council of Europe bodies, favouring institutions that pursue quiet diplomacy over those demanding accountability. This selective participation allows the authorities to retain the benefits of Council of Europe membership while ignoring conditions related to political prisoners, civil society repression, and media freedom, revealing serious weaknesses in the Council of Europe’s response to persistent non-compliance.
NHC has extensively documented widespread state-led repression in Georgia and Azerbaijan, including dozens of arbitrary detentions, suppression of human rights organisations, and politically motivated prosecutions of journalists, activists, and human rights defenders. Both governments aimed to silence independent and opposition media outlets. At the same time, non-governmental organisations face an increasingly hostile and repressive environment that has forced many to dissolve, operate covertly, or remain paralysed.
In Azerbaijan, the conditions for human rights work are deteriorating as politically motivated prosecutions, suppression of free speech, and impunity for serious human rights abuses, including torture and police violence, are widespread. In Georgia, alongside violence as part of the government’s authoritarian shift, the ruling Georgian Dream party has increasingly weaponised the justice system to punish protesters, journalists, and opposition figures, and has pushed through a series of legislative amendments that effectively dismantle the right to peaceful assembly.
Both governments failed to take meaningful action to address serious allegations of human rights abuses and charged and convicted dozens of their critics on bogus criminal allegations, sentencing some to lengthy prison terms. Below are some recent cases.
Arrests in Azerbaijan
In June 2025, a court sentenced several journalists to lengthy prison terms. Farid Mehralizada, of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL), was sentenced to nine years in prison. Six journalists from Abzas Media, a popular media group known for its hard-hitting investigative journalism, received lengthy prison sentences. This included Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinc Vagifgizi, and investigative reporter Hafiz Babali, all of whom were sentenced to nine years in prison. Journalists Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova received eight-year sentences. The outlet’s deputy director, Mahammad Kekalov, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years. The convictions against them were based on fabricated charges of smuggling and tax evasion and are widely viewed as retaliation for reporting on government corruption and part of a systematic effort to suppress independent journalism.
In October 2025, Zabil Gahramanov, a defence lawyer who was representing many political prisoners and is known for his outspoken criticism of police abuse, was placed in three months’ pretrial detention on false criminal charges of hooliganism. Before his arrest, the state-controlled Bar Association had suspended his membership for his outspoken criticism of police abuse.
In November 2025, authorities intensified their crackdown on the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party by arresting its leader, Ali Karimli, and other senior party officials, reinforcing a long-standing pattern of politically motivated repression against opponents.
Many prominent journalists from other independent media outlets, such as Toplum TV and Meydan TV, were arrested in 2025 and are awaiting trial. They include Fatima Movlamli, Nurlan Libre, Shamshad Aghayev and Ulviyya Ali.
Azerbaijan continues to be one of the Council of Europe’s most serious offenders before the European Court of Human Rights, ranking among the countries with the highest number of cases and the poorest compliance with judgments. This persistent defiance significantly undermines the authority of the Council of Europe and weakens the European human rights system.
Arrests in Georgia
In August 2025, Mzia Amaglobeli, a prominent Georgian journalist and founder of the independent media outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, was sentenced to two years in a politically motivated case. Amaglobeli, who received the 2025 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament, faces serious health issues that have worsened in prison. Dozens of other journalists, protesters, and activists, who were detained amid the crackdown on dissent, are also imprisoned.
Throughout 2025, the authorities continued to pass a range of laws that contradict the country’s commitments to the Council of Europe. They enacted legislative amendments that effectively criminalise human rights activism, especially protest-related activities vital to the right to assemble. The laws introduced and ongoing investigations against critics clearly aim to penalise and suppress dissent, systematically undermining protections for peaceful assembly and free expression.
By late 2025, the authorities had imprisoned nearly all opposition leaders, while the ruling party petitioned the Constitutional Court to ban three opposition parties, setting a dangerous precedent for wider political bans. The prominent politicians who were imprisoned were convicted of refusing to testify before a parliamentary commission and barred from holding public office for two years.