On July 4, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) considered the appeal of Azerbaijani prisoner for life, Shakir Rzakhanov. The ECHR determined that the conditions of his incarceration were a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention (prohibition of torture) for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), and awarded him moral damages in the amount of 7,500 euros and costs of 2,000 euros.
The Court found that Rzakhanov was held in solitary confinement and the conditions "exceeded the unavoidable level inherent in imprisonment, and should be considered as inhuman and degrading treatment."
According to Rzakhanov’s representative to the ECHR, the director of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan (HRCA), Eldar Zeynalov, "Rzakhanov was one of the 128 prisoners sentenced to death, whose sentence was changed in 1998 to life imprisonment”. Since that time, he has been kept in Gobustan Prison, where there have been numerous complaints about the conditions of detention and treatment of staff, as well as a violation of the law by sentencing him to life imprisonment. In February 2008, the head of the prison placed him in solitary confinement.
Rzakhanov’s correspondence was fully censored. One of the reasons under which Rzakhanov was kept in solitary confinement for two years and 10 months were his official complaints to which he was legally entitled. The European Court also took into consideration the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which visited the prison in 2008.
This is the sixth complaint from Azerbaijani life prisoners that received a favorable judgment in Strasbourg. -02D-
Politics
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The agreement reached at the COP29 climate summit has been hailed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as a critical step in global efforts to combat climate change. Speaking after the conclusion of high-stakes negotiations, Guterres emphasized that the agreement is pivotal for maintaining the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, a threshold considered crucial to preventing the worst impacts of climate change.
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On 23 November at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, eco-activists from different countries held a protest action against the failure of countries to agree on climate finance.
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On the eve of the closing of the COP29 climate conference in Baku, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has drawn attention to the criminal cases of journalists detained in Azerbaijan.
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Negotiations at the 29th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku have been extended until November 24, a source in the UNFCCC Secretariat told the Turan news agency. According to the source, participants aim to finalize and sign the concluding documents by that date.
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