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Azerbaijan Gets US$500 Million Loan for Gas Transportation

Missed Opportunity to Affect Much Needed Reforms

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Wednesday approved a US$500 million loan for a crucial piece of a network of pipelines owned largely by the Azerbaijani government that will transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The bank made…
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Azerbaijan Suspended Over Rights Crackdown

Baku Responds by Quitting the Transparency Group

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international coalition promoting better governance of resource-rich countries, has suspended Azerbaijan for failing to ease its crackdown on civil society groups. Following years of…
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Azerbaijan: No Progress On Key Reforms

Transparency Group Should Suspend Country’s Membership

(London) – The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a prominent international coalition, should suspend Azerbaijan’s membership for failing to carry out key reforms, a coalition of 21 groups including Human Rights Watch, ARTICLE 19, and…
An Azerbaijan state flag flutters in the wind on an oil platform in the Caspian Sea east of Baku, January 22, 2013.
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Joint Letter to the EITI Board Members

February 10, 2017 Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative International Secretariat Ruseløkkveien 26, 0251 Oslo, Norway For distribution to Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Board…
News

High-Level Visit to Azerbaijan Should Prompt Changes

Transparency Group Should Urge Civil Society Reforms

In one month, the board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international multi-stakeholder group, will decide whether to suspend the natural resource-rich government of Azerbaijan for failing to comply with EITI standards.…
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Azerbaijan: Transparency Group Insists on Reforms

4 Months to Repeal Restrictive Laws or Face Suspension

(New York) – The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a prominent international coalition, on October 26, 2016, declined to restore Azerbaijan’s full membership status in the organization, Human Rights Watch said today. EITI gave the…
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Azerbaijan: Bank Should Highlight Transparency, Accountability

Asian Development Bank, Shareholder Countries Should Urge Reforms

(Washington, DC) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its shareholder countries should urge the Azerbaijani government to end its crackdown on activists and independent groups during the bank’s upcoming meeting, Human Rights Watch said today. The Asian…
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Dispatches: A Demotion for Azerbaijan

Lately it’s hard to avoid having “unprecedented” and Azerbaijan in the same sentence because of the government’s ever-harsher crackdown on critics. But today’s Azerbaijan news is unprecedented for another reason. Finally one of its international partners…
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Letter to ADB President Nakao Re: Annual Meeting in Baku

Takehiko Nakao President Chairperson, Board of Directors Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters: 6 ADB Avenue Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila Philippines Cc: Ms. Ma. Carmela Locsin, Director General, RSDD Mr. Bart Edes, Director, Poverty Reduction,…
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The Dangerous Work of Defending Transparency

The bold activists around the world who stand up to corporate and government economic interests frequently face a harsh backlash. Individuals and communities are threatened, and activists may be arrested or killed with impunity in retaliation for speaking…
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Azerbaijan: Group Orders Rights-Linked Review

Adopt Reforms to Remain a Member of International Initiative

(New York) – A warning from a prominent international transparency group on October 15, 2014, gives Azerbaijan’s government a clear incentive to promptly open up space for activists to operate. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)…
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Azerbaijan: New Effort to Crush Independent Groups

International Transparency Effort to Decide on Country’s Membership

(New York) – Draft amendments to limit funding of independent groups under Azerbaijan’s already harsh laws would make it nearly impossible for them to operate. These moves come as a prominent international coalition, the Extractive Industries Transparency…
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Azerbaijan: BP Should Address Crackdown

As Leader of Transparency Effort, Company Should Speak Out

(New York) – BP should tackle a harsh government crackdown on independent groups and activists in Azerbaijan, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today. The crackdown has seriously compromised an international natural resource transparency…
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Letter to Mr. Dudley Re. BP and Azerbaijan's Crackdown

Robert Dudley Chief Executive Officer BP 1 St James's Square London SW1Y 4PD United Kingdom Re: BP and Azerbaijan's crackdown Dear Mr. Dudley, We are writing to urge you to take action, publicly and privately, in response to a harsh government crackdown…
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Azerbaijan: Transparency Group Should Suspend Membership

Stifling Pressure on Activists Violates Commitments

(New York) – The Azerbaijan government’s offensive against human rights defenders and nongovernmental organizations should lead to its suspension from an international transparency initiative, Human Rights Watch said today. Azerbaijan is a founding member…
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Azerbaijan: Crackdown on Civil Society

Dozens of Activists and Journalists Jailed, Restrictive Laws Adopted

(Berlin) – The Azerbaijani government is engaged in a deliberate, abusive strategy to limit dissent. The strategy is designed to curtail opposition political activity, limit public criticism of the government, and exercise greater control over…
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Extractive Industries: A New Accountability Agenda

Human Rights and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Update: A response from the EITI Secretariat is available at this link. ContentsSummaryBackground: EITI’s Purpose, Structure, and RulesEITI’s Founding PrinciplesStructure of the InitiativeThe Central Role of Civil Society ParticipationCurrent…