Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to help safeguard human rights defenders in Azerbaijan (a) before, (b) during and (c) after COP29.

Along with our international partners, we continue to urge Azerbaijan to improve human rights protections for all its citizens. Azerbaijan's hosting of COP29 in November provides the country with an opportunity to demonstrate meaningful action in this regard to the world. The UK remains concerned at the increased number of detentions of independent journalists, human rights defenders and civil society representatives over the last year. The UK government is clear that freedom of expression is the foundation of an open, pluralistic society, and must be respected.