The Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan fails to fulfill its obligations to execute sentences for convicts

Places of detention and detention centers are gradually transferred to the Ministry of Justice

Next year it will be 30 years since the Penitentiary Institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan were withdrawn from the subordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. By the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan N 399 dated 01/09/1993, all institutions of the Department of Rehabilitation Works (İslah İşləri İdarəsi) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), except for pre-trial detention centers, were transferred to the Ministry of Justice. Also, the 7535th security battalion, regiment N 6500, a special escort division (prisoners) of the Baku police department, all personnel of correctional inspections (Islah Işləri Müfəttişlikləri) under the police departments of city and district levels, were transferred to the Ministry of Justice. Also transferred to the Ministry of Justice all the property of these institutions.

Eldar Ismailov, a human rights activist specializing in the rights of prisoners, told Turan that the transfer was carried out as part of the reforms recommended by the Council of Europe, an international trend of the time.

“In Europe, it is believed that a prisoner after a trial should not remain at the disposal of those who conducted an investigation on them, since in this case the crimes of the investigators will remain unsolved. For the same reason, now convicted prisoners transferred to places of detention are filing a complaint against the investigators who committed crimes against these prisoners.

In 1996, Azerbaijan applied to the Council of Europe with an application for membership, at the same time the pre-trial detention centers were transferred to the Ministry of Justice. Bailov, Shuvelan and Ganja pre-trial detention centers were withdrawn from the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Azerbaijan received the status of "guest", and when representatives of the Council of Europe visited Azerbaijan, they pointed to the congestion of prisons, in which the number of tuberculosis patients exceeded sanitary standards. Thanks to the reform carried out at that time, the incidence of tuberculosis in places of detention decreased by more than 30 times.”

But the reform did not affect the predecessor of the modern State Security Service. Due to the specifics of this organization, a pre-trial detention center remains here.

Structure of the Prison Service

Currently, the Penitentiary Service is an independent subdivision of the Ministry of Justice, in the status of the main department, located in Baku. It operates within the framework of the law "On serving in the bodies of justice", the Regulations on the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other laws, regulations, decrees, orders of the president, the website of the Ministry of Justice reports.

The modern name - the Penitentiary Service, was introduced by presidential decree N 466 of August 17, 2006 "On the development of justice bodies." Previously, this service was called the Main Directorate for the Execution of Punishment under the Ministry of Justice.

The Penitentiary Service has the following institutions:

Investigation isolators:

Baku remand prison (settlement Zabrat-2), Ganja remand prison N 2, (92, H.Aliyev Str.),

Detention facility No. 3 (Shuvelan settlement).

Sheki pre-trial detention center.

Places of detention:

N 1 (Baku, Narimanov st., 1),

N 2 (Baku, settlement Bina),

N 3 (Baku, Alizade st.)

N 4 (female - Baku, (N.Aliyev street, 15),

N 5 (Salyan district, Yenikyand village),

N 6 (Baku, settlement Boyuk Shor, 23),

N 7 (Baku, settlement Kokhnya Ahmedli),

N 8 (Baku, Buta settlement),

N 9 (Baku, settlement Bina),

N 10, (Baku, Narimanov st., 10),

N 11 (Baku, 7th microdistrict),

N 12 (Baku, Buta settlement),

N 13 (Baku, Buta settlement),

N 14 (Baku, Gyzyldash settlement),

N 15, (Baku, settlement Boyuk Shor),

N 16 (Baku, Bul-Bul settlement),

N 17 (Baku, settlement Bina),

Prison in the village. Gobustan

Correctional institution for minors in the Khatai region of Baku

Medical facility in the village of Boyuk Shor, Baku,

Specialized medical institution in the village of  Bina.

Settlement type penal institutions (MƏNTƏQƏ TİPLİ CƏZAÇƏKMƏ MÜƏSSİSƏLƏRİ):

N 1 in Khachmaz region, with. Garagurdlu,

N 2 in the Garadagh region of Baku, the village of  Gizildash,

N 3 in Shabran district, Sharvan village.

N 4 in Gobustan region (female).

N 5 in Ganja,  the village of Avtozavodsky,

N 6 in Sumgayit,  the village of Tagiyev,

N 7 in the village of Shagan, Baku,

N 8 in the village of Maraz of Gobustan region,

N 9 in Guba,

N 10 in the Goranboy region, st. Goran.

N 11 in with. Dilgakh of Masalli region,

N 12 in Baku,  the village of Gizildash,

N 13, in the village of Lokbatan, Baku,

N 14 in the village of Khirdalan.

The penitentiary service and places of detention are criticized by international organizations.

The World Prison Brief has published a rating of the number of prisoners in the countries of the world. According to this rating, the number of prisoners has increased in Azerbaijan. In the ranking, which includes 211 countries and sovereign territories, Azerbaijan is on the 67th line with 21,253 prisoners. The Council of Europe in its annual report on the number and condition of prisoners in the organization's member countries in April this year noted that a total of 21,12 prisoners are serving their sentences in Azerbaijan, and there are 208.7 prisoners for every 100,000 of the population. According to human rights activists, the capacity of prisons in Azerbaijan is 25,501 people. They report that in 17 years the number of prisoners has grown from 17,845 to 21,253.

The European Committee against Torture (also the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture - CPT) monitors places of detention in Azerbaijan. In 2020, the Committee revealed serious violations of the rules of maintenance, nutrition, and guarantees of the rights of prisoners. The CPT presented recommendations, but the shortcomings were not eliminated, in a number of institutions the shortcomings recorded were again discovered during the next visits of the Committee's inspectors (in the 4th women's jail).

Compared to previous years, the number of deaths and suicides in prisons has increased in 2021. In 2021, 13 suicides and 242 cases of self-mutilation were recorded. An increase in the number of deaths by 38% was noted.

The response of the CPT reports a gross violation of the rights of prisoners. The use of narcotic substances has acquired the character of chaos. In places of detention, drugs are used not only by convicts. Hygiene conditions, baths and toilets are in a terrible state. Baths are paid. Without bribes, convicts cannot use the services of doctors, receive medicines, food. If the convict has no money, he will not be treated and eat normally. Food kiosks in places of detention are engaged in robbery, introducing convicts into debt dependence. For bribes, convicts can receive comfortable conditions, a separate room, air conditioning, furniture, and a TV. Those convicted without money are serving their sentences in difficult conditions. There is not even elementary progress to correct the convicts. After the end of the sentence, they become more aggressive and return to society as potential criminals. Despite the fact that Azerbaijani legislation speaks of a humane attitude towards convicts, the opposite is happening in the Penitentiary Service, the CPT report (konkret.az) says.

The report of the Committee for the period 2004-2017 states:

- The CPT's general impression of the situation in Azerbaijan is that torture and other forms of ill-treatment by the police, other law enforcement agencies and the army, as well as corruption in the law enforcement system in general and impunity, continue to be systematic, widespread and not are eradicated. The results of a special visit in 2017 suggest that there are widespread manifestations of violence by members of various law enforcement agencies.

In addition, there is a serious problem of impunity and lack of proper investigation of allegations of ill-treatment, as well as ineffective legal guarantees for detainees, such as access to a lawyer, notification of detention, access to a doctor and information about rights.

Despite legislative reforms and efforts to repair old prisons and build new ones, the problem of overcrowding in prisons, poor material conditions, lack of activities (especially for pre-trial and life prisoners), low level of medical care and insufficient number of prison staff, low staff salaries persist. All this complicates the fight against corruption and the prevention of violence between prisoners.

It is necessary to change the philosophy of the system of punishment

From Ismayilov's point of view, despite improvements in the rules and conditions for serving sentences in Azerbaijan, shortcomings and problems remain in recent years. Among them is the impossibility of all prisoners to work in order to help financially families and not lose labor skills and socialization. “Now they don’t talk about the correctional mission of these institutions. Prisoners are closed within four walls, doing nothing but playing backgammon. The penitentiary system has become a place for educating a young generation of criminals. Prisoners cannot assert themselves as people who earn money for their families. Once behind bars, they become dependents supported by their families."

In some jails established in industrial zones, prisoner labor is used. But in such jails, the mechanization of labor is minimal, there is one old machine for every ten working prisoners. Convicts make iron gates, doors, soldiers' beds... The labor efficiency of prisoners is extremely low, and accordingly, there is little opportunity to earn money, Ismailov said.

The places of detention are overloaded. The most difficult conditions in this sense are in the women's colony. They do not liquidate, despite the announced plans, the "covered" Gobustan prison for especially dangerous criminals that does not meet European standards. The promised commissioning of a new prison for especially dangerous criminals is still missing.

At the same time, the human rights activist noted, new buildings have been put into operation in the Shuvelan detention center, and a modern detention center has been built in Sheki. The conditions of detention of prisoners and persons under investigation in the new institutions are better than in the former ones, which have preserved Soviet prison standards.

He especially noted the creation of the Probation Service in the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, in which convicts serve their sentences in their places of residence, and the limited movements of these people are controlled by special electronic devices.

The probation service was created by the presidential decree “On expanding the application of measures to improve activities in the penitentiary sphere, humanizing the policy of punishment and alternative punishment and procedural coercion not related to isolation from society”, signed on February 10, 2017. The Probation Service of the Ministry of Justice was created taking into account the Council of Europe’s recommendation “On the Rules of European Probation” dated January 20, 2010, other international acts, the experience of developed countries, by the Decree of the Head of State dated November 7, 2017, the Probation Service was granted the powers of the main department of the Ministry of Justice.

Amendments were made to the Code of Execution of Sentences, provisions were added to the legislation on the duties of officials, the use of electronic means of control and probationary activities in the process of executing sentences not related to deprivation of liberty.

For the period of February 2022, 42,200 convicts are under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Ismailov believes that one of the reasons for the insolvability of problems is the punitive ideas about the task of punishment in the ideas of employees of penitentiary institutions who have transferred to the service of the Ministry of Justice from colonies and prisons from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The human rights activist proposes to increase the opportunities for labor education in places of punishment, to organize agricultural correctional institutions, where convicts can earn money by agricultural labor, selling the fruits of labor to the country's market.

Ismailov believes that the problem lies in the fact that the Ministry of Justice is overloaded with many duties that are far from the task of punishing and reforming convicted citizens, therefore it cannot cope with the mission assigned to it.

OSCE Recommendation on Reforming Places of Detention

The position of international organizations regarding the preference for this or that model of the penitentiary system is obvious. The OSCE, in one of its reports, explicitly recommended to OSCE participating States the following steps in reforming the penitentiary system:

• those OSCE participating States that have not yet transferred the system of execution of sentences from the competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the competence of the Ministry of Justice should consider such a transfer as a matter of urgency;
• those OSCE participating States that are in the process of transferring power from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Justice should continue this reform in order to change the nature, worldview and culture of the correctional service;
• in particular, Member States should transfer the power to manage pre-trial detention facilities, since the separation of powers between the authorities that hold the accused and the investigating authorities is most relevant at the stage of preliminary investigation;
• the transfer of powers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Justice should not be accompanied by a division of powers between the authorities managing places of pre-trial detention and prisons; the existence of two different agencies should be avoided, as this would risk slowing down criminal justice reform;
• structural changes in the management of the penitentiary system are not an end in themselves, but only a means for the demilitarization and democratization of the correctional service;
• the role of independent national human rights bodies, such as the Ombudsman, should be strengthened with regard to penitentiary reform; The OSCE/ODIHR should work jointly with these bodies to strengthen their ability to monitor the penitentiary system;

The OSCE participating States should establish an effective system for monitoring the observance of human rights in places of detention;

The OSCE participating States should give the judiciary the power to control the penitentiary system and reduce the role of the prosecutor's office in relation to the control of the penitentiary system.

The OSCE recommends that its participating States use the model of organization of the penitentiary system, which is within the competence of the Ministry of Justice.—0—