Scandal around UNICEF lending its name to European Games in Azerbaijan, country accused of torturing young people
The goal of the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is to protect the rights of children. Yet UNICEF is lending its name to the European Games in Azerbaijan, a country accused of torturing young people struggling for their rights, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) writes citing TT News Agency, Sweden.
It is pointed out in the article that alongside sponsors like BP, Coca-Cola and various Azerbaijani companies, UNICEF is listed as the Games' “Official Child Rights Organization.”
According to the article, Robert Hårdh, director of the human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders, is appalled. “I don’t understand how UNICEF can lend its name to something that is so clearly a part of the propaganda of the dictatorial regime in Azerbaijan,” he said in a written statement.
Human Rights Watch spokesman Andrew Stroehlein added that even though UNICEF works in many countries with dubious human rights records - that may well be necessary to deliver services on the ground in these places - this kind of collaboration on a mega-sporting event seems to be something else entirely. “The regime is obviously keen to partner and use the good name of UNICEF to whitewash its appalling reputation abroad in the same way it is using the Games generally. Now that this is a done deal, we can only hope UNICEF will raise in public and in private the issue of Azerbaijan's political prisoners and push for their release,” he said.
According to the report, in 2014, Sweden gave US$ 170 million to UNICEF. That makes it the fifth biggest donor to the UN agency. “We hardly want our tax money going to a dictatorship’s propaganda and repression,” Hårdh stated. Ulrika Modéer, Sweden’s assistant minister for foreign aid, said that it is a cause for concern if UNICEF lends its name to a context which is against the organization's overall goals, and Sweden is likely to address the issue with the UN agency.
Elisabeth Löfgren, press officer at Amnesty International in Sweden, points out that nine representatives of Nida, an organization fighting for the rights of young people, have been imprisoned since 2013. Several of them have reportedly been tortured. “UNICEF doesn’t say anything about that,” Löfgren told TT.
As for the inclusion of the most excluded children, Hårdh notes that the beautiful new sports stadiums will only benefit the children of rich parents. “And you won’t get rich in Azerbaijan if you criticize the regime, because then you end up in jail. UNICEF’s partnership with the Azeri regime hardly includes any support for the families of oppositional figures and human rights defenders who are suffering from the repressive policies of the Aliyev regime,” he stressed.
On 12-28 June, Baku will host the first European Games under the auspices of the European Olympic Committee. According to media estimates, the Games will cost the Azerbaijani population $10 billion. However, they have become a serious headache for the locals with numerous bans and demolition of property. The preparatory works for the Games are accompanied by crackdowns and brutal repressions against dissent.
Related:
British journalist is deported from Baku and Amnesty International is denied entry to Azerbaijan
RTVi: Baku hosts glamour festivals to assert itself on world stage with European sports officials deaf to criticism
The Guardian: EOC's stance about disastrous situation in Azerbaijan is pathetic
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