Community Alliance "Azerbaijan has no political prisoners," urged the Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova and international organizations, especially the OSCE, to take urgent action to stop violence against prisoners in Azerbaijani prisons.
In the statement released yesterdfay the alliance says that recently disturbing signals have been coming from prisons: increasingly frequent violations of prisoners' rights, violence on the part of the personnel of the Prison Service and the growth of corruption.
The alliance points out that there are conflicting reports about the death of a resident of Zagatala Parviz Mikailov in hospital. The mother of the deceased Fatma Aliyeva insists violent death of her son. On December 17 they informed her that her son committed suicide, but she found bruises on the body of her son and a fracture on the skull.
The statement says that the authorities used out atrocities in Prison Number 17, where known political activists are imprisoned. They were abused for being against lawlessness and corruption. Planted in a punishment cell for protesting against torture, the National Statehood Party leader Nemat Panahli went on protesting and on the night of December 6 special force was brought to the prison and the disgruntled prisoners were mistreated. Within 2-3 hours the prisoners were forced to bark like dogs and other animals and swear to one another toughly. Protesting against these, Panahli, as well as other prisoners, was put in solitary confinement for 10 days. December 13, he began a hunger strike and was released three days later. Due to the refusal to stop hunger the new chief Arif Mirzayev again put him in solitary confinement for five days on December 18. Criminal investigation is conducted against the other four prisoners in solitary confinement.
The alliance of former political prisoners sent repeated requests to obtain access to penitentiaries, but each time they were refused. The organization considers unjustified refusals as violations of the European Prison Rules and the evidence of serious problems in the Prison Service of the Ministry of Justice. -0 -
Politics
-
A new draft agreement on financing climate programs, unveiled at the 29th session of the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP29), proposes allocating at least $1.3 trillion (€1.23 trillion) annually for climate protection measures and adaptation to the impact of climate change, according to a 34-page document released on Wednesday. The draft, developed with input from developing nations, aims to address the needs of the world's poorest countries, though several contentious issues remain unresolved, AFP reported.
-
On November 13, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Afghan Taliban held talks in Baku as part of the COP29 conference. According to a report by Turan correspondent, the discussions took place behind closed doors and lasted for over an hour. No statements were made to the press following the meeting. Furthermore, conference security prevented journalists from asking questions to the meeting participants.
-
Kichikhanim Khalilova, the wife of arrested public activist and first-group disabled person, Famil Khalilov, reported being followed during her time at the COP29 conference on November 13. She had been accredited in the "Green Zone" as a civil rights activist. From the moment she entered the conference area, a young man began to follow her.
-
The imprisoned journalists of Abzas Media have had their phone calls with relatives reduced from 15 minutes to just 2 minutes. This restriction is reportedly linked to the ongoing international climate conference COP29 in Baku.
Leave a review