IDI assesses situation with torture in Azerbaijan

Baku/18.08.22/Turan: The Non-Governmental Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) published the results of media monitoring on the facts of torture and ill-treatment for 2019-2021. According to the authors of the study, torture and other types of ill-treatment are prohibited by international legal norms and local legislation.

The prohibition of torture is one of the three absolute rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, the restriction of which is not allowed in any cases.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), through its case-law decisions, also obliges governments to carry out effective investigations into cases of torture.

As of the end of 2021, in 44 cases from Azerbaijan, the ECHR found a violation of the rights of applicants under Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention.

Media monitoring was carried out by reviewing the websites of Radio Azadlyg, Meydan TV, Toplum TV, BBC Azarbaycan, Turan agency and a number of other information resources.

There were 27 allegations of ill-treatment in 2019, 33 in 2020 and 37 in 2021. Most of the torture took place in places under active state surveillance. The motives for ill-treatment were: participation in protest actions; prevention of electoral fraud; coercion to give confessions in criminal cases; violation of the rules of the quarantine regime; coercion to give up political activity; coercion to refuse legal assistance; filming a police officer on duty on video; and etc.

Among the types of ill-treatment are the facts of coercion under physical pressure to testify against the leader of the opposition Popular Front Party, Ali Karimli.

The authors came to the conclusion that despite the inadmissibility of torture and ill-treatment in the legislation, in practice they are not effectively applied. The study resulted in a number of recommendations.

In particular, it is proposed to improve judicial practice in cases of ill-treatment and torture, timely and transparent investigation of complaints about such facts, creating conditions for the media and human rights activists to monitor conditions of detention.

It is also recommended to investigate media reports about facts of torture, increase attention to ensuring unhindered meetings between lawyers and clients, regularly inform the public about the number of complaints about the alleged use of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officers, their punishment, etc.

*IDI was established by a group of lawyers and activists in 2013 led by former CEC member Akif Gurbanov. –06D--