The Human Rights House, a network of six civil society organisations, said in a statement that suppressing freedom of expression, arresting journalists and the attorneys representing them, closing a Human Rights House, refusing to answer the Council of Europe special rapporteur's queries about the imprisonment of photographer and blogger Mehman Huseynov were some of the evident indicators of undemocratic rule by Aliyev and his party.
The Human Rights House said Azerbaijani officials invested money in other states' projects or even donated it in exchange for a blind eye and silence about the "human rights violations taking place in their state every day."
The Human Rights House recalled that the Croatian government recently adopted three agreements on cooperation with the Azerbaijani government.
"We can't accept a policy which is based on the protection of one's own interests yet which benefits grave human rights violations in other countries. These agreements must not be signed without clearly criticising President Aliyev for the unacceptable violation of human rights in Azerbaijan and without developing a foreign policy towards Azerbaijan that will support the disenfranchised, abused and imprisoned citizens of that country," the statement said.
The Human Rights House warned the government that by signing treaties with countries which seriously violated human rights, it became responsible for international human rights violations.
Aliyev is due to visit Croatia on Monday at the invitation of Croatian President Ivo Josipovic.