Council of Europe and the European Union launched a project on Penitentiary Reform in Azerbaijan

Baku/08.05.19/Turan: On May 8, the Hilton Hotel hosted the presentation of the project "Additional support in Azerbaijan for penitentiary reforms -2" (SPERA-2), implemented jointly by the Council of Europe and the EU.

The head of the Baku Office of the Council of Europe, Zoltan Hernyes, said that the project would be implemented within 2 years. According to him, the objectives of the Penitentiary System are not limited to the isolation of prisoners, we must also work with them to correct them, and NGOs play a big role in this.

Hernyes also said that in 2020, the delegation of the CE Anti-Torture Committee will visit Azerbaijan and its report will be drawn up taking into account the results of this project.

In Azerbaijan, for every 100,000, there are 235 prisoners, and according to this indicator, the country ranks third in the region. The mortality rate among prisoners is also very high, Hernyes said.

Deputy Minister of Justice, Chief of the Prison Service Jeyhun Hasanov said that they have been in the reform system since 2006, and its employees are undergoing international trainings. Recently, the rights of prisoners have become better-ensured, improved medical care.

Mr. Kestutis Jankauskas, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan, said that this project is a continuation of the previous one and expressed the hope that in two years it will give positive results.

Touching on the work on a new agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU, he expressed the hope that signing it would raise the partnership to a qualitatively new level.

The new agreement is important for human rights, democracy, and the development of a market economy.

Welcoming the March decree of Ilham Aliyev, Jankauskas expressed hope that new steps would follow in this direction. He also noted the need for the manifestation of humanism towards prisoners.

"We are looking at the attitude of the state towards its citizens. If it is fair, then we support investments in the economy of this country," he said.

The head of the Ministry of Justice"s chief medical department, Rafael Mehdiyev, said that NGOs with experience in this field should be involved in the process of rehabilitating convicts. It is also necessary to improve some regulations.

It should be noted that under the project, the Council of Europe would assist the Azerbaijani authorities in enhancing the protection of human rights of convicts in accordance with Council of Europe standards, in particular, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT).

The project will focus on the effective management of prisons, the provision of health care in places of detention and the reintegration of prisoners. It will be implemented in cooperation with the Prison Service and the Main Medical Department of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan. -21C-