Michel Forst voiced alarm over the alleged "persecution, penalisation and harassment" of Mammadli, who has now been in pre-trial detention for six months on "allegedly trumped-up criminal charges" in what the rapporteur called "apparent reprisal for his environmental activism".
"I am gravely concerned about the deterioration in the treatment of Mr Mammadli and the crackdowns on civil society actors, including environmental defenders", Forst said in a statement.
Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges which human rights groups claim are bogus.
He and activist Bashir Suleymanli had formed a civil society group called Climate of Justice Initiative, which set out to promote environmental justice in the tightly-controlled, oil-rich nation.
The COP29 UN climate summit is being held in Azerbaijan's capital Baku from November 11-22.
Forst said it appeared that the charges and the lengthy detention "were a form of retaliation against Mr. Mammadli for his efforts in the lead up to COP29".
His ongoing detention on charges subject only to a preliminary investigation "therefore appears grossly unreasonable and disproportionate".
"The length of Mr. Mammadli's pre-trial detention also strongly indicates that it is a measure that is punitive in nature, aiming to intimidate Mr. Mammadli and other environmental defenders from speaking out, particularly in the lead up to COP29. This is unacceptable."
Mammadli's health has deteriorated in detention and served to "further penalise" him, Forst said, calling for his immediate release and for the charges to be "immediately dropped".
As UN special rapporteur, Forst is tasked with taking measures to protect any person experiencing or at imminent threat of penalisation, persecution or harassment for seeking to exercise their rights under the convention.
Azerbaijan is a party to the convention.
The former Soviet republic wedged between Russia and Iran has faced considerable scrutiny over its hosting of COP29.
Last week the European Parliament denounced Azerbaijan's crackdown on critics and said its "ongoing human rights abuses are incompatible" with hosting the summit.
COP29 at risk from graft, fossil fuel interests: report
Paris (AFP) Oct 31, 2024 -
UN climate summits risk "being undermined by undue corporate influence and fossil fuel industry capture", two corruption watchdogs said Thursday as oil-and-gas producer Azerbaijan prepares the next global meeting.
Azerbaijan's hosting of the COP29 talks in November is the second straight year the world's premier climate negotiations have been hosted in a country deeply tied to oil and gas.
Azerbaijan's fossil fuel interests, entrenched levels of graft and "autocratic government" put the UN-led climate process at risk, Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective said in a report.
But these risks were not unique to Azerbaijan, it said, pointing to past and future COP hosts with strong ties to fossil fuels.
"This report finds that in its current form, COP, as the main global forum for setting the climate policy agenda, is at risk of being undermined by undue corporate influence and fossil fuel industry capture," the report said.
"Corruption and kleptocracy, too, threaten the integrity of climate conferences, including the upcoming COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan."
AFP has sought a response from the COP29 president and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic wedged between Russia and Iran, has faced considerable scrutiny over its hosting of COP29.
Last week the European Parliament denounced Azerbaijan's crackdown on critics and said its "ongoing human rights abuses are incompatible" with hosting the summit.
In October, dozens of US lawmakers demanded the release of political prisoners ahead of the climate talks in Azerbaijan, which has been ruled with an iron fist by President Ilham Aliyev since 2003.
Azerbaijan has also been challenged over its willingness to advance a historic global agreement inked at COP28 to transition the world away from fossil fuels.
The Caucasus nation plans to expand production of fossil fuels, and Aliyev has described his nation's gas reserves as a "gift of the Gods".
COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev is a former executive of Azerbaijan's national oil company, SOCAR, and the new report questions the level of influence the state venture holds over summit organisers.
"COP29 is at risk of becoming another forum for fossil fuel diplomacy and dealmaking," it said, alleging senior SOCAR figures had been seen mixing COP business with deals for the national oil company.
The United Arab Emirates, which hosted COP28 in November 2023, faced similar accusations, with the summit president also director of the Emirates national oil company ADNOC.
The UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil -- the next COP host -- are a self-proclaimed "troika" that claim to be climate champions but all are approving new oil and gas ventures, the report noted.
"Some members of this Troika can use the COP events as diplomatic showcases to support their domestic oil industries, sign new fossil fuel deals, and sanitise their records of human rights abuses and environmental harms," it said.
It said some members of the COP29 organising committee had been involved in "high-profile corruption scandals" and the summit was being used to promote companies linked to Azerbaijan's ruling family.
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