Presentation of Internet Resource Prison Library

Baku / 09.03.18 / Turan: On Friday the International Press Center hosted a presentation of the Internet resource Prison Library.

The website was created within the framework of the project "Strengthening the Role of Civil Society in Ensuring the Socio-Economic Rights of Sensitive Populations" implemented by the United Nations Development Program in partnership with the Azerbaijan Human Rights Center with the financial support of the European Union.

According to one of the project's executors, the head of the Humanitarian Research Society Avaz Hasanov, the resource is designed for prisoners and their families, journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and researchers of prison problems.

The website hosts dozens of legislative and regulatory acts concerning the activities of penitentiary institutions, an electronic library that includes fiction and educational materials, useful links for journalists and NGO activists.

The section Legal Advice provides advice on the procedures for filing complaints.

Within the framework of the project, trainings were held for NGO activists in Baku, Gyanja and Sheki.

Since prisons are not connected to the Internet, the resource database will be provided to them in the form of CDs.

The director of the Human Rights Center (HRC), Eldar Zeynalov, said within the framework of the project two training manuals are being prepared, which will be published in BSU.

Noting the importance of creating the portal, Zeynalov pointed to the need to inform prisoners of their rights. Journalists, and sometimes even lawyers, are not sufficiently informed.

This resource summarizes all legal acts regulating the activities of closed institutions.

Access to the "electronic library" database is also important for the education and self-education of prisoners. In the future, it is possible to ensure that prisoners receive correspondence education.

How interested are prison administrations in informing prisoners about their rights?

Answering this question Zeynalov noted that the situation has changed and the administration is interested in the prisoners reading.

Self-education provides a good atmosphere, protects prisoners from mental stress, and prevents conflicts.

According to Zaliha Taghirova, deputy director of HRC, human rights activists managed to establish TV sets in the cells of the Gobustan prison.

Previously, there were five suicide attempts per year in this institution. Over the past year, after the establishment of television sets, not a single case has been recorded.

In recent years, the situation with ensuring the rights of prisoners has improved significantly. However, in general, problems remain, and they are more concerned with providing psychological support to prisoners, their connections with the outside world, and subsequent reintegration into society.

Taghirova especially noted the problems of young women, from whom their relatives often turn away. Another problem is when women have given birth to children in prison; they are taken from them at the age of 3 years.

Human rights defenders hope to take this issue into account in the next steps to humanize punishment. -06D-