COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE CONTINUES EXAMINATION OF SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF AZERBAIJAN

CAT
30th session
1 May 2003
Afternoon




The Committee against Torture carried on this afternoon with its review of a second periodic report of Azerbaijan, hearing a Government delegation describe national standards for pre-trial detention, the age of criminal responsibility, admission of evidence in court, and the treatment of prisoners suffering from tuberculosis.
The eight-member delegation, led by Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, and responding to questions put by Committee members upon presentation of the report on Wednesday morning, said among other things that pre-trial detention could not exceed 48 hours before charges were brought or a detainee had to be released; that criminal responsibility had been set at age 16 at the time of commission of the crime, except for premeditated murder and several other serious offenses, where the age was 14; and that under the Criminal Code, evidence from a criminal investigation was to be reliable and obtained in accordance with reliance on the Code and in accordance with the Constitutional rights of citizens -- any evidence obtained in violation of the Constitution, including torture or ill-treatment, would not be recognized by the court.
A special hospital had been set up in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization to treat prisoners suffering from tuberculosis, the delegation said, and since 1996 the rate of the disease among prisoners had declined steeply.
The delegation also said every accusation of physical maltreatment or torture was investigated, and police officers who had committed such offenses had been prosecuted and sentenced. In one case, four transport police officers had been tried and found guilty for causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death, and had been imprisoned, the delegation said.
Azerbaijan, as one of the 133 States parties to the Convention against Torture, is required to submit periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to put the Convention's provisions into effect.
The Committee's formal conclusions and recommendations on the report of Azerbaijan will be issued on the afternoon of 12 May.
The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Friday, 2 May, to begin its consideration of a second periodic report of Turkey.

Discussion
Responding to questions put by Committee Experts upon presentation of the Azerbaijani report on Wednesday morning, the Government delegation said among other things that according to the Criminal Code, suspects and the accused had the right to defense or legal counsel from the moment of detention; confidentiality of consultations with legal counsel was ensured; and suspects or accused persons had the right to choose their legal defenders and to dismiss them if they were not satisfied with their performance.
The country's law on extradition stipulated that extradition could be refused if there were sufficient grounds to suppose that as a result of extradition the claimant would be subjected to torture by the State asking for him, the delegation said; but in practice, such procedures had not been established in implementation of an extradition. A court decision to extradite a person could be contested by the parties concerned.
An order of the Ministry of the Interior regulated places of temporary detention used by police bodies, the delegation said; the regulations involved had been prepared jointly by several Government ministries; in exceptional cases, persons could be temporarily detained for up to 10 days on orders of the Ministry of the Interior. The main aim of the provision was to ensure security and the protection of the rights of the detainee. The measure was a result of the fact that there was sometimes detention of persons in remote regions.
According to the Criminal Code, evidence for a criminal investigation was to be reliable and obtained in accordance with reliance on the Code and in accordance with the Constitutional rights of citizens, the delegation said; any evidence obtained in violation of the Constitution, including torture or ill-treatment, would not be recognized by the court. Over the past two years, the courts had determined in 10 cases that evidence had not been obtained in an acceptable fashion.
Legal measures called for the use of jurors, the delegation said, but currently these were not being put into practice; jurors would be used once relevant reforms had been carried out.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and lawyers' associations had participated in the preparation of the Azerbaijani report, the delegation said. The press had been kept informed of progress in the preparation of the report, and had been present during meetings related to the report.
Visits by NGOs to places of detention were governed by the Code on Punishments, which stipulated that such visits occurred under the orders established by the Ministry of Justice; these orders set no limits on such visits; the mechanisms for such visits were contained in the preliminary instructions for NGOs issued by the Ministry of Justice.
Specific measures were being taken to monitor detention conditions in places of provisional detention within the scope of the Ministry of the Interior, the delegation said; every year, there was allocation of money for repairs to and construction of provisional detention centers.
Detention of suspects, under the Criminal Code, could not last more than 48 hours, the delegation said; following 48 hours, the suspect must be brought before the court and the court had to hand down a decision either in favour of arrest or release. Neither the prosecutor nor the court had the right to prolong this period.
The age of criminal responsibility was 16 at the time the crime was committed, although those who had reached the age of 14 were criminally responsible for premeditated murder and several other particularly serious crimes, the delegation said. There was only one institution for the incarceration of minors; currently 54 minors were being held there. As a rule, minors were assigned to hostels or camps. Persons up to the age of 20 could be held in such hostels or camps.
Under the Ministry of Defense there were disciplinary battalions which were part of the army and were not places of detention, the delegation said; these battalions consisted of soldiers who had committed crimes that were not of great public danger. The point was rehabilitation of the convicts; the conditions of the battalions were governed by regulations of the armed services; such soldiers were paid the same as other soldiers.
Prisons had no cells without windows, the delegation said. All persons whose death sentences had been commuted to life imprisonment were so informed; such persons could receive family visits; they could receive periodicals and watch television. The central prison hospital had 16 beds, and doctors there carried out daily medical care of prisoners.
During preliminary investigations, according to the Criminal Procedural Code, audio recordings, video films, and photographs could be used by all participants, the delegation said.
Every accusation of physical maltreatment or torture was investigated, and police officers who had committed such offenses had been prosecuted and sentenced, the delegation said. In one case four transport police officers had been tried and found guilty for causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death, and had been imprisoned.
Deaths in military service referred to by the Committee had been investigated, the delegation said; one soldier had been abused by a superior with the result that he had committed suicide, and the perpetrator had been tried and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. In another case resulting in death of a soldier, a sentence of 14 years' imprisonment had been imposed.
An office of Ombudsman for human rights had been established, the delegation said; and an Ombudsman recently had been appointed. The Ombudsman had the right, without any warning, to visit prisons and places of detention, and to address courts and other bodies in relation to complaints received.
A specialized institution had been established in which women could serve prison sentences, the delegation said; the institution was more of a hostel than a prison, and 90 per cent of the employees were women. There were no records of any sexual violence having occurred at this institution.
Criminal sanctions applied to various aspects of trafficking in women, the delegation said; women working in prostitution were not treated as criminals. Some 70 people had been brought to justice recently for forcing women into prostitution. In 2001, a police official and a colleague had been sentenced for trafficking women to Abu Dhabi.
In a case referred to by the Committee, a situation of mass violence in which 77 policemen were wounded and extensive damage was caused to the buildings of Government authorities, 18 persons were held to be responsible, the delegation said; they were found guilty by a court and sentenced. Four were given sentences involving detention.
As of 1996, the Government had developed a special programme for the treatment of tuberculosis in places of detention, the delegation said; a specialized hospital for the disease had been set up and more than 1,300 persons had been treated there. Help with this programme had come from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Programme. Since 1996, the number of fatalities from tuberculosis had decreased three-fold.
Threats or undue interference with the independence of the judiciary or the operations of the prosecutor's office were illegal, the delegation said. State bodies also were not allowed to interfere in the professional activities of lawyers.
Committee Experts put further questions. Responding, the Azerbaijani delegation said among other things that great changes had occurred in the country following the end of the totalitarian period, and the transition to a better situation obviously would take time. Azerbaijan was moving towards establishment of a fully open, pluralistic, democratic society and towards full respect for human rights, but time was required. The fact was that society had not yet got to the point where all laws related to human rights were being directly applied – the Committee was quite right to point out that there was often a difference between passing legislation and implementing it.
Protection of persons in places of detention was governed by the law, the delegation said, and NGOs were, under law, allowed to visit detention centers as often as they wished. However, the rules did say that such visits must be announced in advance.
Anyone brought to a place of temporary detention underwent a medical examination, the delegation said; such a person also had the right to request examination by a private doctor of his choice.
The delegation said it could not give statistics on the number of public officials tried and/or convicted of acts of torture or maltreatment, but would provide the information later in writing.



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