The Civic Solidarity Platform (CSP) strongly condemns the acts of persecution and pressure against Azerbaijani human rights defender and co-founder of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) Emin Huseynov, as well as the continued death threats targeting his brother, journalist Mehman Huseynov.
Background
Human rights activist and journalist Emin Huseynov sought protection in Switzerland after suffering severe persecution in Azerbaijan due to his human rights and journalistic work. In 2014–2015, fearing for his life, he spent ten months in the Swiss embassy in Baku. Following diplomatic negotiations, he was evacuated to Switzerland on a Swiss government plane. Upon arrival, he was granted refugee status and statelessness, as the President of Azerbaijan had personally stripped Huseynov of his citizenship.
During Switzerland’s 2014 OSCE Chairmanship, as part of the Swiss Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, preventative protective measures provided at the Swiss Embassy in Baku saved the life of a human rights defender, while many of his colleagues ended up in prison. Therefore, it is deeply concerning that Emin Huseynov is once again facing real threats to his safety in Switzerland today.
Today, during Switzerland’s 2026 OSCE chairmanship, Huseynov’s life is in danger in Geneva, a city that is home to global human rights organizations, as Azerbaijani authorities openly threaten to kill their critic.
Since moving to Switzerland in 2015, Emin Huseynov has continued his human rights work, strengthening and institutionalizing it. Specifically, the human rights organization Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) received consultative status with the Council of Europe and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
From Geneva, he has been consistently engaged with:
- United Nations human rights mechanisms and Special Procedures,
- the Council of Europe and its monitoring bodies,
- OSCE human dimension mechanisms,
- the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, and other European institutions.
Huseynov regularly speaks at high-level international events, raising issues of political prisoners, has documented cases of repression and transnational intimidation, and has provided assistance to persecuted journalists and activists from Azerbaijan and other countries in the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.
Since 2023, he has consistently participated in UN Human Rights Council sessions and related forums in Geneva, becoming one of the most visible Azerbaijani civil society voices in international human rights spaces.
His work is strategic, persistent, and visible on the international stage.
In 2019, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Azerbaijan, specifically on the case of Mehman Huseynov. Following this, amid growing international pressure, the Azerbaijani authorities released several political prisoners. Overall, his human rights work contributed significantly to the release of over 50 political prisoners and enabled many victims to speak out about repression in the country.
In addition to his human rights work, Huseynov also continued his journalistic activities. He conducted investigative journalism on corruption and human rights, publishing them on his YouTube channel, OBYEKTIV TV, and collaborated with European media outlets to produce investigations into corruption within the ruling family in Azerbaijan. In recent years, Huseynov, as a journalist, actively covered the European Political Community Summit and the Munich Security Conference, where he repeatedly questioned Azerbaijani government officials about the state of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan.
The situation escalated significantly following Emin Huseynov’s intervention at the Munich Security Conference, held on February 13-15, 2026.
During the Munich Security Conference, attended by President Ilham Aliyev and Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, Emin publicly asked questions about the repression of government critics in Azerbaijan.
Despite threats from the president’s security guards, as well as their physical blocking of Huseynov, Emin called on President Ilham Aliyev to answer at least one question from a representative of independent media. Aliyev evaded the answer and aggressively stated that “there are no independent media in the world.”
The president’s response was an open act of disrespect for independent journalism.
Even more alarming was Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva’s response. In response to Huseynov’s question about the state of democracy in Azerbaijan, instead of answering the question itself, she asked Huseynov to identify himself. She then publicly mocked him for allegedly dressing up as a woman and fleeing persecution at the Swiss Embassy in Baku. In response to Vice President Aliyeva’s mockery, Huseynov admitted that he indeed had been forced to disguise himself but had not dressed up as a woman. After the exchange, the Vice President wished him “good health” and left.
Huseynov, and many experts on authoritarian countries, viewed the Vice President’s wishes for health as a veiled threat to life.
Following the Munich events, a massive state-sponsored smear campaign was launched. Pro-government media portrayed Emin Huseynov as a traitor, a “Russian,” “Armenian,” “Swiss,” and “American spy,” clearly seeking to discredit him and fuel hostility.
A smear campaign was also launched against Switzerland and Swiss diplomats. In particular, state propaganda активно disseminated claims that Emin was allegedly a Swiss agent and was taking revenge for the closure of the Red Cross office in Baku.
Furthermore, well-known pro-government Azerbaijani journalists publicly called on the public to do whatever was necessary “to restore the dignity of the President and Vice-President.” In the Azerbaijani political context, such rhetoric carries dangerous implications and effectively amounts to a public signal of retaliation — comparable to the declaration of a political “blood feud.”
On 18 February 2026, after the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, Emin Huseynov reported that he was followed by two armed men who appeared to be of Azerbaijani origin. The livestream of the event on his YouTube channel made his location known.
According to Mr. Huseynov, only his alertness and the presence of witnesses helped prevent a possible attack. He believes that filming and broadcasting the situation live discouraged the suspected individuals from carrying out any further actions.
Two days later, on 20 February, Mr. Huseynov experienced what appears to have been a coordinated attempt to abduct him near the United Nations Office in Geneva. Two unidentified individuals were waiting near his vehicle.
After noticing the suspicious individuals close to his car, Huseynov decided to approach UN security on foot. At that moment, the individuals entered a cargo van with French license plates and began moving toward him, continuing to follow him.
Fortunately, a police vehicle happened to pass by at that time, and there were pedestrians nearby, which appears to have deterred the perpetrators. Mr. Huseynov publicly documented this incident.
Independent reports by fellow journalists, citing European intelligence sources, indicate that an order may have been issued to “neutralize” Emin and Mehman Huseynov, allegedly at the instruction of the Azerbaijani authorities.
Following these incidents, Mr. Huseynov reported continued surveillance by suspicious individuals and vehicles with foreign license plates on 21, 24, and 26 February. He also expressed concerns about possible monitoring of his electronic devices and his vehicle.
On the same day as the second Geneva incident, Azerbaijani presidential security guards violently attacked peaceful demonstrators in Washington, D.C., reinforcing concerns about the export of repression beyond Azerbaijan’s borders.
Emin Huseynov’s social media platforms have been inundated with coordinated trolling, hate speech, and threatening messages. Among the recurring statements is the following:
“Ten years ago, you managed to escape persecution in Azerbaijan with Switzerland’s help, but this time Switzerland will not save you.”
This rhetoric explicitly references his earlier evacuation and directly challenges Switzerland’s ability to guarantee his safety.
Meanwhile, Mehman Huseynov continues to receive repetitive death threats linked to his journalistic and civic engagement.
The persecution of the Huseynov brothers is not an isolated case. In recent years, Azerbaijani activists, opposition figures, and journalists in a number of OSCE member States — including France, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Türkiye, and Georgia — have faced intimidation, surveillance, violent attacks, and alleged assassination attempts.
In recent years, at least three assassination attempts against Azerbaijani blogger Mirzali Mammadov have been recorded in France. In October 2024, opposition activist Vidadi Iskanderli was killed in France following a series of previous attacks against him.
In addition, a case involving the beating of blogger Manaf Jalilzade was documented on the territory of Switzerland.
Such actions point to a systematic extension of repressive practices beyond national borders. The execution of, or assistance in, such operations on the territory of democratic states undermines the foundations of international law, calls into question the sovereignty of host countries, and weakens the effectiveness of international protection mechanisms for refugees and political exiles.
The Civic Solidarity Platform calls upon:
The Swiss authorities
to urgently conduct a comprehensive assessment of the heightened risks faced by Emin Huseynov and to ensure the implementation of effective and sustainable protective measures; to call for a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation into the February incidents and the subsequent surveillance reported; to strengthened coordination with OSCE participating States that share a commitment to the protection of human rights, with a view to preventing further acts of transnational repression on Swiss territory — not only against Mr. Huseynov, but also against all human rights defenders and dissidents residing in the country and actively engaging with international institutions.
Furthermore, it is advisable to update and modernize the existing Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders to address emerging challenges related to transnational repression.
The European Union institutions, including the European Commission and the European Political Community
to publicly condemn these acts; to raise the cases of Emin and Mehman Huseynov in diplomatic engagements with Azerbaijan; and to strengthen coordinated protection mechanisms for exiled journalists and human rights defenders.
The Council of Europe, including the Office of the Secretary General, the Committee of Ministers and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
to publicly condemn these acts; to raise the cases of Emin and Mehman Huseynov in diplomatic engagements with Azerbaijan; to raise the issue of widespread cross-border repression to ensure full compliance of the Council of Europe member states with international human rights obligations.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), including the OSCE Secretary General, the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
to publicly respond to cases of transnational repression and provide a clear legal and political assessment; to activate existing OSCE mechanisms and instruments for the monitoring and documentation of such practices; to raise the persecution of Emin and Mehman Huseynov within relevant human dimension mechanisms; and to strengthen the monitoring of threats against journalists and human rights defenders living in exile in OSCE member States.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Director of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
to ensure safe conditions of stay and unhindered professional activity of human rights defenders and journalists engaging with UN mechanisms, in particular Emin Huseynov; to take additional measures to prevent acts of intimidation and transnational repression; to enter into direct communication with the authorities of Azerbaijan in connection with the documented incidents, to request clarifications, and to emphasize the inadmissibility of any forms of persecution and intimidation of human rights defenders outside the country.
The Civic Solidarity Platform stands in unwavering solidarity with Emin and Mehman Huseynov.
The normalisation of transnational repression in Europe must not be tolerated. The protection of human rights defenders is a shared responsibility — and it demands decisive action.
Signed by:
Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
Public Association “Human Rights Movement: Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”
Human Rights Center (Georgia)
Crude Accountability (USA)
Public Association “Dignity”
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor (Armenia)
Human Rights Centre ZMINA (Ukraine)
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia