On October 26, 2016, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board stated that if Azerbaijan’s government fails to amend restrictions on NGOs before next March, their EITI membership will be suspended. The EITI is an initiative that oversees the international “standard for transparency and accountability around countries’ oil, gas and mineral resources.” Azerbaijan’s EITI membership is considered instrumental to the country’s oil and natural gas economy. Without it, Azerbaijan may be deemed ineligible to receive loans from the World Bank for planned infrastructure projects.

The announcement came six days after Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) signed a joint letter calling upon members of the EITI Board to suspend Azerbaijan’s membership until the country improves its human rights record. Signatories of the letter urged the EITI to require Azerbaijan to eliminate laws restricting NGO operations and unconditionally release all political prisoners. Two members of the EITI NGO Coalition of Azerbaijan – a group involved with EITI processes – are currently imprisoned along with 92 others according to the updated political prisoners list published by Azerbaijan activists and journalists (only Azerbaijani version available). Soon after the release of the joint letter, the UN Human Rights Committee also reviewed the “systematic repression” of human rights in Azerbaijan at the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council. A brief video from the session about human rights in Azerbaijan can be watched here.