Meeting of Committee against Torture and Repression

Baku / 05/18/19 / Turan: On Saturday, May 18, the first meeting of the new public Committee against Torture and Repression was held at the headquarters of the Musavat Party.

Speaking at the meeting, one of the co-founders of the committee, human rights activist Oktay Gulaliyev stressed the importance of creating this structure and holding meetings to publicize the facts of torture, which have acquired a wide scope in the country.

Rashkhan Mustafayeva, the mother of the Razi Mustafayev deceased in 2018, said that her son, who was drafted for active military service last year, was killed. 'They say that he committed suicide. No, he was killed. Her son should not have been called up for service because of health reasons. At the service, after a while, they began to find fault with him. And then they threatened to kill him, because he overheard a conversation. The day after the threats, we were informed that he had shot himself. But they shot him from behind,' the woman said.

R. Mustafaeva added that a criminal case was initiated under Art. 125 (incitement to suicide) of the Criminal Code of AR, and several servicemen were arrested.

The mother of Mirza Huseynov, arrested in the Ganja case, Etibar Huseynova stated that after the arrest of her son on July 20, they brutally tortured Mirza in the Nizami and Kapaz departments of the police, tied his legs and arms, and did not allow him to eat or drink. 'He was tortured with electricity and so beaten that he was ready to throw himself out of the window. About a year my son was arrested without guilt. He said that he would begin a hunger strike.'

The father of Mushfig Ahmedov arrested in the 'Tartar case,' Seymour Akhmedov said that his son was illegally sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of 'treason'. According to Ahmedov, confessions from his son were beaten out under cruel torture. 'They tortured my son with electric shocks; all the defendants in this case were subjected to sophisticated torture - from torture with electric shocks to rape with various objects. They were told that if they confessed they would have a short imprisonment," said Ahmedov.

The mothers of those arrested before the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, noted that 29 people arrested in this case and sentenced to terms ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment were tortured in the former Ministry of National Security.

Elchin Gasimov, deputy chairman of the Muslim Unity Movement, said that after being arrested in 2015 for an administrative offense, he was then transferred to the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, where they opened a criminal case and tortured him for 14 days. He stated that the way out of this situation is to unite forces and create a fair judicial system.

Chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces, Jamil Hasanli, in his speech, compared the current situation in the country with 1937. "As a historian, I am familiar with many cases of that time. However, even then they did not torture with electricity. At that time, the use of torture to obtain the necessary testimony was legalized, but now it is contrary to the Constitution," said Hasanli.

The authorities of Azerbaijan deny the use of torture in places of detention. -21C--