Amnesty Has Not Solved the Political Prisoners Problem

Arif Yunusov

As part of the amnesty declared in Azerbaijan on the occasion of the "Year of Sovereignty and the Constitution," 36 political prisoners have been released, according to Arif Yunusov, Head of the Department of Conflicts and Migration at the Institute for Peace and Democracy.

He noted that "government propaganda" has launched its "traditional campaign of praising the presidential 'act of humanism'."

"However, it is no secret that all these 'acts of humanism' by the authorities are designed to reduce criticism from abroad regarding political prisoners, whose numbers have grown rapidly in recent years and have now reached nearly 400 people. Furthermore, they need to present something to secure new investments from the EU for alleged reforms in the penitentiary system, especially since Azerbaijan ranks first among Council of Europe countries in terms of prisoners per capita," Yunusov wrote on his Facebook page.

In his view, the amnesty did not solve the problem of political prisoners because it did not affect journalists, including the "9 brave girls," political emigrants, human rights defenders, and other civil society activists. It also excluded political emigrants deported from Germany, representatives of national minorities, those convicted in connection with the unrest in Söydlü village and the Imishli district, and participants in the "Ganja case," "Tartar case," and "Nardaran case" who remain in prison.

Emphasizing that the list compiled by the Union "For the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan" consists of 12 groups, Yunusov pointed out that the amnesty only affected "one single group – religious believers." "And even then, by no means all of them. There are 249 believers on the list, which accounts for 64 percent of the total number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan," Yunusov continued.

"This amnesty applied only to those believers who were arrested in 2023 as 'Iranian agents' but were officially convicted as alleged 'drug addicts' under Article 234.1-1 (Illegal acquisition or storage of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in an amount exceeding that necessary for personal consumption, committed in a large amount) of the Criminal Code to 3 years. It only included those who had a maximum of 6 months left until the end of their sentence. To date, 36 believers have been released," Yunusov specified.

Given that the amnesty process will span four months (until April), it is expected that approximately 25–30 more believers will be released—those who were also arrested in 2023 as "Iranian agents" and convicted on drug charges under Article 234.1-1, Yunusov added.

"Of course, we are happy for their release and hope the authorities do not arrest them again, especially when Azerbaijan-Iran relations sour once more. But as we can see, even the release of this group of believers will not solve the political prisoner problem, nor the problem of religious believers, of whom there are still many on the list. This entire 'humanitarian action' by the Azerbaijani authorities is merely propaganda dust in the eyes of the West. Moreover, the places of those released will soon be taken by others in the coming year, including more believers. The conveyor belt of repression and arrests in Azerbaijan will not be stopped; Azerbaijan will remain a leader in Europe in terms of the number of prisoners, and the problem of political prisoners will remain the primary issue in the country," Yunusov summarized.

According to the latest list from the Union "For the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan," released on October 7, the number of political prisoners stood at 392.