Debates on the Situation in Azerbaijan at the PACE Autumn Session

In the draft agenda, there is a request for an urgent debate on “The deteriorating situation of human rights, rule of law and democracy in Azerbaijan”. The Assembly will consider all the requests for urgent debates on Monday, the 30th of September, and will decide which requests to accept. If the Assembly agrees to hold these debates, they will be included into the final agenda. Therefore, the final agenda will be available on the 30th of September only.

On Monday, the 30th of September, from 12h00 to 13h00 (Strasbourg time), the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize award ceremony will take place. One of the three shortlisted candidates for this year’s ceremony is Akif Gurbanov, Azerbaijan.

Gurbanov is a human rights defender, political activist and active member of the Azerbaijani civil society. He is the co-founder of the Institute of Democratic Initiative (IDI) and of the Third Republic.  He was arrested in March 2024 during a wave of detentions targeting journalists and activists in Azerbaijan, as highlighted in the press release. The other two nominees for the award are Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado and Georgian gender activist Babuca Pataraya.