Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed concern on Monday with Azerbaijan hosting the COP29 climate conference in November, pointing to the country imprisoning Armenian and pro-environmental activists.
Cardin, in a statement, said “hosting a major international conference like COP29 should come with responsibilities and expectations that host countries allow frank discussion of information and issues, which requires recognizing freedoms of speech and assembly.”
“Azerbaijan has not done so,” he said, urging the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev, “to release those unjustly imprisoned by his government, including Armenian detainees, and community activists who peacefully demonstrated against poor labor practices and harmful environmental impacts of the Chovdar gold mine operation.”
Azerbaijan’s embassy in the U.S. said it was a “strong testament” to its commitment to the environment and other issues that Baku “was elected by unanimous decision as the host country for COP29.”
“Against this background, attempts to cast shadow over COP29 with ungrounded claims do not promote global climate agenda and cooperation, which the responsible members of the international community are committed to support,” the embassy said. “Azerbaijan looks forward to successfully hosting COP29 and advancing climate agenda with all countries involved, including the United States. Achieving further global consensus on climate action will better serve humanity and human rights. In this context, we expect uniting efforts rather that distracting them in achieving this noble cause.”
Azerbaijan, located between Asia and Europe in the Caucasus Mountains, will host COP29 from Nov. 11-22 in the capital of Baku.
Azerbaijan was announced last December as the next host of the conference that brings together 197 countries and the European Union to advance goals committed to easing the global climate crisis.
The conference comes ahead of the 2025 Paris Agreement deadline for nations to put forward climate targets for the year 2035 that are more ambitious than their existing 2030 targets.
Azerbaijan has seen intense scrutiny as the conference’s host because it’s an oil and gas producer, and the decision to host came after Baku captured a breakaway region with Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, in September 2023, which prompted a mass exodus of the ethnic Armenian population.
Baku has also been criticized for jailing critics and independent media. Amnesty International this month called for the release of government critics detained by Azerbaijan, while Human Rights Watch did the same for independent media over the spring.
The Azerbaijan embassy in the U.S. said in its statement that “attempts to link COP29 with certain domestic legal and judicial processes goes against the very principles of the rule of law and judicial independence. Understandably, human rights have nothing to do with permissiveness to engage in illegal activities.”
“It is also surprising to see calls to release Armenian detainees who have been sentenced or are being investigated for committing well-documented serious crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity, which have no statute of limitations,” the statement reads. “Doing so is fully in line with the international legal obligations and domestic legislation.”
Cardin said Monday that “Azerbaijan has the potential to be an important member of the international community and partner to the United States,” but that Baku must first release several detainees.
“Ahead of COP29 in November, I urge the Azerbaijani government to demonstrate its commitment to upholding human rights by releasing these individuals without delay,” Cardin said.
Rachel Frazin contributed to this report.
Updated at 4:19 p.m.