Ulviyya Ali (Guliyeva)
Ulviyya Ali (Guliyeva) is an Azerbaijani woman human rights defender, journalist, and photographer. She has collaborated with various independent media outlets as a freelance journalist and photographer. Since 2016, Ulviyya Ali’s journalistic work has documented issues of social injustice, regardless of individuals’ religion, ethnicity, political views, gender or sexuality. She is one of the few journalists who continued to work in Azerbaijan despite the ongoing crackdown against independent media. Her work has been featured in a number of independent media platforms, including Voice of America, RFE/RL and OC Media.
The space for human rights defenders (HRDs) and NGOs has been steadily shrinking in Azerbaijan. A number of legislative amendments have been adopted in recent years that restrict the work of HRDs and put their activities under strict governmental control. The roundup of the most prominent HRDs and their subsequent trials and imprisonment indicate that Azerbaijan is well on the road towards authoritarianism, seemingly adopting a Russian-style contempt of civil society.
