The AHA has written to President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan expressing “grave concern for the personal safety and freedom of Igbal Abilov,” an ethnic Talysh scholar who was arrested while visiting Azerbaijan in July 2024. “Abilov has been charged and remanded to pretrial detention in Baku for his peaceful exercise of the right to academic freedom—conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments,” the AHA wrote. “[W]e demand the release of Igbal Abilov and others arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for their dissenting or critical views in Azerbaijan.”
November 20, 2024
Dear President Aliyev:
The American Historical Association expresses grave concern for the personal safety and freedom of Igbal Abilov. On July 22, 2024, Igbal Abilov, an ethnic Talysh scholar who has lived in Belarus since he was a child, was arrested while visiting Azerbaijan. He is the editor of The Herald of the National Academy of Talysh, an international journal dedicated to the scholarly study of the Talysh. According to media reports, Abilov has been detained on charges of treason for having communicated with fellow researchers and activists in Armenia while attending meetings and conferences held under the auspices of European research institutions.
The American Historical Association considers the right of historians to conduct research and publish their findings to be one of the core principles of the profession, and of academic freedom generally. This right applies especially to research that reveals uncomfortable historical truths.
Abilov has been charged and remanded to pretrial detention in Baku for his peaceful exercise of the right to academic freedom—conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a signatory.
The American Historical Association is the largest organization of professional historians in the world, with nearly 10,500 members spanning the globe. On behalf of this international network of scholars, we demand the release of Igbal Abilov and others arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for their dissenting or critical views in Azerbaijan.
We appreciate your attention to this important matter and look forward to your reply. We hope that as a historian, you will be especially appreciative of the imperative of the integrity of historical research.
Sincerely,
James R. Grossman
Executive Director