One year ago, Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, a prominent anti-corruption activist and economist, was severely beaten and arrested on trumped-up charges by Azerbaijan’s authorities.

The spurious charges against him should be dropped, as they should be against the other political prisoners arbitrarily detained in Azerbaijan.

On the anniversary of his arrest, Crude Accountability joins other organizations and individuals in calling for his immediate and unconditional release and condemning the ongoing crackdown against civil society in Azerbaijan.

Read our full statement on Azerbaijan’s crackdown on civil society.

"What inspires me the most about Gubad is his ability to connect with so many different kinds of people."

To mark one year since our friend and colleague, Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, was violently arrested in Azerbaijan on spurious charges, Crude Accountability Executive Director Kate Watters reflects on Gubad's inspiring story.

Watch our short video to learn more.

#freegubad

Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu’s children, who have been tirelessly advocating for their father’s release over the past year, shed light on Azerbaijan’s recent human rights abuses in an op-ed for Just Security and a moving video for Publish What You Pay, questioning the choice of Azerbaijan as a COP29 host.

Read the Just Security op-ed here.

Watch the PWYP video in English or Russian.

We are four months away from Azerbaijan hosting COP29. Given the country’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the ongoing crackdown on civil society, our Executive Director questions the choice of host in the article by Devex.

Get the full story here (NB: Free sign-up to access the article).

#cop29baku

In June 2024, Crude Accountability participated in a media training session for Russian-speaking journalists from Central Asia at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings in Bonn. 

Our Research Assistant, Yulia Genin, shares her experience and calls out the UN's failure to live up to its Charter, including but not limited to shrinking civic space, an unfair accreditation process to participate at COP, and Azerbaijan's inability to lead climate negotiations for COP29.

Learn more about the conference here.

#BonnClimateConference

Earlier this year, our team traveled to Yerevan, Armenia, for the 33rd Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the EBRD. Our Research Assistant, Yulia Genin, shares her reflections from the meeting in our latest blog.

Read her insights on our team’s engagement with the Bank here.

Are you fluent in greenspeak?

Our Communications Assistant Nathan Reynoso examines words that obscure the environmental and human rights impacts of electric vehicles (EVs), such as “transition minerals,” “smart mining,” and “clean energy.”

Learn more about greenspeak and its exploitation by the EV industry here.