Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called CPT's statement "unfounded and unfair"

Official Baku expressed deep regret over the public statement of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) regarding Azerbaijan.

At the same time, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry considered such an approach "unfounded and unfair", as well as "questionable from a legal point of view."

On July 3, the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture announced the refusal of the Azerbaijani authorities to accept the delegation of this structure. At the same time, the Committee published a report on Azerbaijan following the results of the 2022 mission, which reported on the practice of torture in the activities of law enforcement agencies against detainees.

Contrary to the requirement of the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the CPT made an unprecedented decision to publish in full a report on the results of its visit to Azerbaijan in 2022 without Baku's consent, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizade said in turn today.

"Besides the fact that such an approach is unfair and unjustified, it also raises questions from the legal point of view," Ayhan Hajizade stressed. "Since 2002, the committee has made periodic and special visits to our country several times and published reports on the implementation of the convention by Azerbaijan. At that, Azerbaijan presented the Government's position on each provision mentioned in the reports. Along with this, as noted in the public statement, Azerbaijan has taken steps to eliminate existing shortcomings, the recommendations of the committee have always been taken into account," Hajizade continued.

According to him, Azerbaijan, within the framework of cooperation with the committee, provided the necessary assistance during all visits of its representatives. "Along with providing support for on-site investigations, steps were taken to receive members of the delegation at the highest level, efforts were made to strengthen the foundations of cooperation," Hajizade continued. He noted with regret that "this decision was adopted amidst the Azerbaijan's relations with the Council of Europe, which developed after the biased decision not to ratify the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January 2024." "We strongly reject the criticism that takes place in this public statement, which, instead of constructive cooperation with government agencies, actually shifts responsibility to them.

Along with protecting the rights of persons sentenced to imprisonment, Azerbaijan is making significant progress in harmonizing real practice with generally accepted standards," the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.