The Prison Challenge: Low Living Standards

Baku/27.10.21/Turan: The World Prison Brief organization has published a rating on the number of prisoners in the countries of the world. According to this rating, the number of prisoners has increased in Azerbaijan. In the rating, which includes 211 countries and sovereign territories, Azerbaijan  ranks the 67th with 21,253 prisoners.

The Council of Europe, in its annual report on the number and condition of prisoners in the member countries of the organization, noted in April this year that a total of 21 thousand 12 prisoners are serving sentences in Azerbaijan, and there are 208.7 prisoners for every 100 thousand 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.

In this case, will the increase in the number of prisoners cause the density in prisons and prisons? Why is this indicator growing in the country?

In 2017, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on improving activities in the penitentiary sphere, humanizing punitive policies and expanding the use of alternative punishments and procedural coercion, not related to isolation from society.

According to official data, today the order applies to 8 thousand convicts, 2 thousand 500 convicts have been released.

The penitentiary service reported that in the penitentiary institutions prevail are persons convicted of drug trafficking, crimes against property and personality.

Despite the fact that the department did not provide general information on the number of prisoners, it was noted that there is no density in penitentiary institutions in Azerbaijan.

It was noted that reforms in the penitentiary sphere are continuing, appropriate measures are being taken to update the infrastructure, improve activities. “A lot of work has been done in the direction of updating the infrastructure of the service, the formation of a professional personnel corps, the restoration of production areas and the opening of new jobs, positive results have been achieved. Overhaul and construction work continues in penitentiary institutions. "

According to the service, the execution of the order of the head of state continues, relevant work is underway to modernize penitentiary institutions, update the infrastructure. “As a result of measures taken to fulfill the obligations arising from the requirements of the order, measures are continued on parole from punishment, to improve activities in the field of changing the type of correctional institution, this year, at meetings held in a virtual manner, the special commission satisfied more 900 applications recommended for submission to the court ”.

The ministry stressed that appropriate conditions have been created for visits to penitentiary institutions by representatives of international, local non-governmental, including human rights organizations, in order to participate in the correctional process, as well as conduct independent monitoring.

Human rights activist Anar Mammadli said there could be several reasons for the increase in the number of prisoners in the country. “First you need to look at the crime situation in the country. It is necessary to determine to what extent the situation is satisfactory, to what extent the number of arrests corresponds to the situation."

According to him, in some cases arrests are used for light crimes. “Sometimes there are economic crimes, when the arrest of the accused does not cover the damage caused to the victim.

The expert noted that the mediation work  in the country is not organized correctly. “In some cases, reconciliation can be achieved. But this is not done, and the case ends with arrest."

According to him, there is a Baku pre-trial detention center and several penitentiary institutions in Azerbaijan. “But this pre-trial detention center is not big, and there is also density there. In other isolation wards, the situation is more deplorable. The people held in isolation wards are not yet criminals. That is, they are faced with an already bitter reality, when the person has not yet appeared before the court. This in itself is an anti-humanist act. "

He stressed that sometimes the conditions in the isolation ward are more difficult than in the prison. "You see that there are twice as many people in cells for 4 prisoners."

The expert says that the biggest problem in prisons is that the infrastructure is not up to normal standards. “There are 2-3 correctional institutions with normal conditions in the center of Baku. And the rest have problems with a bath, water, heating and so on.”- 0—