US lawmaker accuses Azerbaijan in near ‘assault’ at COP29

 
WASHINGTON – A US lawmaker said he was nearly assaulted while attending COP29 in Azerbaijan in what he called a government-orchestrated attack, leading Washington on Tuesday to press Baku to ensure safety at the global climate talks.
“It was no question that if it wasn’t for the fact that security that the embassy hired protected me, I would have been in the hospital,” Representative Frank Pallone told reporters on his return to Washington on Monday.
Pallone, an outspoken supporter of Azerbaijan’s rival Armenia, said he first sensed trouble when he was confronted by hostile and seemingly coordinated questions by local media during the UN-led climate conference taking place in a Baku stadium.
“It was sort of like an exercise in what despots do,” said Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey.
“In Azerbaijan there is no free media. The media is totally controlled by the state,” he said.
“You know this was orchestrated by the government. That’s what this was all about. In order to make a point that we don’t want you here and we don’t want you articulating concerns that you have,” he said. 
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Pallone said around 50 “thugs” then waited for him outside his hotel, with the local police refusing to take him through a back entrance but the US embassy-provided security shielding him.
“It was clear that they wanted to assault me,” he said.
The US State Department, asked about Pallone’s account, said: “We are disappointed that Azerbaijan failed in its responsibility to separate protestors from conference delegates.”
“We expect all governments — especially those hosting major international events –- to take seriously their responsibility to protect those visiting their countries,” a spokesperson said.
Pallone said he was told he was unwelcome at a meeting between the US congressional delegation and President Ilham Aliyev, although fellow lawmakers relayed his concerns. 
Senator Ed Markey said he also encountered harassment and needed a bodyguard even inside his hotel, although he said Pallone faced worse.
Markey, a Democrat who is a leading climate advocate in the US Congress, accused energy producer Azerbaijan of intensifying repression and “greenwashing” both its climate and human rights record by holding COP29.
“We can’t just allow these authoritarian petrostates to ignore both the human rights and the climate threats that have to be addressed in a comprehensive way,” Markey said.
Markey said he met a senior advisor to Aliyev and urged a release of political prisoners as well as “good-faith” negotiations with Armenia, a year after Azerbaijan seized back the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Aliyev set off an uproar last week by using his COP29 platform to attack France, the Netherlands and the European Union, which have all criticized him.
The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights said in a letter published Monday that Azerbaijan has imprisoned activists and journalists merely due to their work and opposition to the authorities.
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AFP