Azerbaijan Resumes Cooperation with CPT

A delegation from the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Azerbaijan from September 22 to October 3 as part of the country's sixth periodic review. This was the first mission by CPT members to the country after authorities denied them entry to monitor places of detention one and a half years ago.

The main purpose of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of persons deprived of their liberty in law enforcement bodies and penitentiary institutions, according to a statement published on the CPT website.

The delegation also reviewed the treatment, conditions of detention, and legal safeguards provided to persons held in psychiatric institutions. The visit also provided an opportunity to review measures taken by the Azerbaijani authorities in response to CPT recommendations issued following previous visits.

During the visit, the delegation held consultations with Deputy Minister of Justice Toghrul Huseynov, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Ogtay Kerimov, Deputy Minister of Health Nadir Zeynalov, as well as other senior officials from the aforementioned ministries, the police, and the penitentiary service. Furthermore, meetings were held with prosecutors from the General Prosecutor’s Office, staff from the Police Academy, and members of the National Preventive Group (for the prevention of torture) operating under the apparatus of the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Delegation members visited the Temporary Detention Facilities of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Combating Organized Crime, as well as police departments in five Baku districts, and the cities of Ganja and Yevlakh.

In addition, they monitored the Pre-trial Detention Centre of the State Security Service, two other pre-trial detention centres and a penitentiary complex belonging to the Ministry of Justice’s Penitentiary Service, and three psychiatric hospitals.

At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary observations to the Azerbaijani authorities, the statement concluded.

The Council of Europe's CPT released a public statement in July 2024 regarding the refusal of the Azerbaijani authorities to cooperate with the body. The statement was made in accordance with Article 10 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture. Given the "seriousness of the issues raised concerning ill-treatment and even torture by law enforcement officials against detained persons," the CPT also decided to publish the report on a special visit to Azerbaijan in 2022 as an appendix to the public statement.

The 38-page report indicated that the Committee's delegation had once again received numerous confirmations of severe physical ill-treatment/torture against individuals currently or recently held in police custody as suspects of criminal offences.

The refusal to allow the CPT delegation into the country was a continuation of measures by the Azerbaijani government to cease cooperation with PACE rapporteurs and not invite the assembly’s observation missions to elections. This was one of the reasons for the suspension of the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE in January 2024.