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Azerbaijan Committee Against Torture releases annual report 2011

21 December 2011 12:30 (UTC +04:00)

Chairman of the committee Elchin Behboudov told APA that his organization received 136 appeals concerning tortures and inhuman behavior. â€œNine of them were related to the fact of death. Those people committed suicide because of tortures and inhuman behavior they faced. There were three foreigners among those who appealed the Committee in the past yearâ€.

According to the report, applicants are the people convicted on charges of illlegal acquisition, storage, sale, transit of drug, theft, resistance or violence against the official, misappropriation of officialâ€™s authorities, robbery and brigandage.

The complaints were about the detention facilities of the Justice Ministryâ€™s Penitentiary Service, police and isolation yards subordinating to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Health Ministry, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transport, Authority of Khachmaz Region and Ministry of National Security.

Behboudov said they conducted monitoring of military bases subordinated to the Defense Ministry and Border Troops too. The security organizations were informed about the results of the monitoring, but reports on inhuman behavior were not confirmed.

The Committee thanked Minister of Internal Affairs Ramil Usubov, Minister of National Security Eldar Mahmoudov, Health Minister Ogtay Shiraliyev and Minister of Education Misir Mardanov for cooperation.

The Committee criticized the Justice Ministry for not creating opportunities for the monitoring and expressed concern that no public organization was involved in the Ombudspersonâ€™s National Preventive Mechanism.

The annual report will be submitted to the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, OSCE Committee Against Torture, Amnesty International and other international organizations, as well as security institutions of Azerbaijan.