HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF AZERBAIJAN

Human Rights Committee
73rd session
26 October 2001
Morning





Government Delegation Queried on Allegations of Torture,
Judicial Corruption


The Human Rights Committee began its review this morning of a second periodic report of Azerbaijan, querying an eight-member Government delegation on allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees and on reported corruption in the judicial system.

Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said a committee had been set up to verify allegations of torture and to make recommendations that would prevent such violations, and that as a result of investigations eleven officers had been dismissed from various ministries, with seven of them criminally prosecuted; in addition, 76 members of the police had been dismissed, 380 disciplined, and 53 held criminally liable for acts of ill-treatment.

In an effort to battle corruption, a judiciary legal council had been established which had outlined measures for reviewing applications of judicial candidates to ensure impartiality and transparency and to allow supervision of the process by international observers, Mr. Khalafov said; judges also now had permanent appointments and enjoyed a series of legal guarantees related to their personal and social security.

Introducing the Azerbaijani report, Mr. Khalafov said among other things that extensive measures had been taken to improve the democratic rule of law and that Presidential, Parliamentary and local elections had been held and numerous reforms carried out, including the adoption of new criminal, criminal procedural, civil, civil procedural, and penitentiary codes. Mr. Khalafov added that aggression against the country by Armenia had caused numerous hardships and human rights violations and had left the Government unable to exercise control over a portion of its territory.

In addition to Mr. Khalafov, the Azerbaijani delegation consisted of Isfandiar Vahabzada, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Eldar Mammadov, Judge of the Constitutional Court; Latif Huseynov, Head of the Department of Constitutional Law of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Secretariat; Zaver Gafarov, Head of the International Legal Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Justice; Tofig Musayev, Deputy Director of the Treaty and Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Murad Najafov, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission; and Samir Sharifov, Desk Officer of the Treaty and Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As one of the 148 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Azerbaijan must submit regular accountings to the Committee on efforts to implement the terms of the treaty. Government delegations generally appear before the Committee when such reports are considered.

The Azerbaijani delegation spent much of the morning responding to written questions prepared by the Committee in advance and falling under the general topics of the country's Constitutional and legal framework; the right to life; liberty and security of the person; treatment of detainees; elimination of slavery and servitude; and independence of the judiciary.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its review of the second periodic report of Azerbaijan.

Second Periodic Report of Azerbaijan

The report (CCPR/C/AZE/99/2) reviews implementation of the International Covenant on an article-by-article basis. An introduction deals at length with the country's ongoing conflict with neighbouring Armenia, stating that Armenia attacked and occupied the region of Nagorny Karabakh in 1991-92 and engaged in 'ethnic cleansing' of Azeris there and in Armenia, resulting in the arrival in Azerbaijan of more than 1 million refugees, leading to a 'disastrous situation' in which every year hundreds of elderly persons, women and children died in refugee camps from diseases and epidemics; and that plundering of Azeri residences in Nagorny Karabakh has caused tens of billions of dollars in loss and damage.

The Azerbaijani Constitution ensures equality before the law and the courts and between men and women, the report contends; and Presidential Decrees have been adopted to promote and protect human rights, including Decrees on measures for safeguarding civil rights and freedoms, a State programme for human rights protection, and measures aimed at safeguarding freedom of expression, opinion and information. The report notes that human rights seminars have been held and that textbooks have been published on human rights standards for use by secondary educational establishments; that a Cultural Act of 1998 guarantees the right to equal participation in the cultural life of society; that the Criminal Code contains an entire chapter devoted to offences against citizen's political and labour rights and sets out penalties for discrimination against women in employment; and that currently 15 women hold seats in Parliament, representing 12 per cent of members, and that women head the Ministry of Justice, the Economic Court, and the State Committee for Women's Affairs, which acts to preserve and protect women's rights.

Among other information in the report is that states of emergency or martial law are allowed by declaration of the President, to be ratified by Parliament within 24 hours; that two states of emergency were declared, in 1994 and 1995, as a result of occupation of a part of Azerbaijani territory by Armenia and by a rise in the activity of terrorist groups; that the Azerbaijani Criminal Code contains a series of articles setting out offences falling within the concept of 'torture'; that it is compulsory for competent State authorities to investigate complaints of torture promptly and impartially; that pre-trial detention as a preventive measure is permitted only on decision of a court or with approval of a procurator, and then only in cases where the law provides for a penalty of more than one year's deprivation of liberty; that for most serious crimes a suspect may, as an exception, be placed in preventive detention before a charge has been brought, but that if no indictment is brought within 10 days, the suspect must be released; that duration of preventive custody during investigation of a case may not exceed two months, although the period may be extended in exceptional circumstances; that Azerbaijani law provides an array of guarantees of independence of the judiciary, among them that judges may not be removed for the duration of their terms of office; that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is enshrined in the Constitution; and that freedom of worship may only be restricted for reasons of State or public security and where necessary to protect rights and freedoms arising from Azerbaijan's international obligations.


Introduction of report

KHALAF KHALAFOV, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said defense of human rights was enshrined in the national Constitution and the country was actively involved in the common European integration processes, aimed in great part at improving the democratic rule of law. Presidential, Parliamentary and local elections had been held and numerous reforms carried out; among the objectives were independence of the courts, and effectiveness of the criminal justice system. There had been adoption of new criminal, criminal procedural, civil, civil procedural, and penitentiary codes. A bill on the Procurator's Office had, through these reforms, had its supervisory role taken from it; it was understood that the justice system was the appropriate body for such activities.

A new measure was dedicated to ensuring respect for human rights in the activities of the police, Mr. Khalafov said. A three-stage legal system had been set up and soon there would be jury courts. There was enhanced State protection for witnesses and for those working in the courts and the legal system. A Presidential Decree had improved the rules for the selection of candidates for judicial functions, with selection done by transparent procedure involving testing and interviews with the participation of international observers, and aimed at selection by merit. In July 1998, Azerbaijan had signed a programme of technical cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Reform of the penitentiary system was being carried out in tandem with work to improve prison conditions, Mr. Khalafov said. Azerbaijan also had signed an agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross under which Red Cross representatives were allowed unhindered access to prisoners.

Continuing aggression from neighbouring Armenia and continued humanitarian difficulties resulting from that had added to the difficulties of Azerbaijan's transitional period, Mr. Khalafov said. In the part of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, there had been 'ethnic cleansing' -- not an Azerbaijani remained there, and the Government of course had no ability to implement the Covenant on territory it no longer controlled.


Discussion

Mr. Khalafov answered a number of written questions put by the Committee in advance. He said, among other things, that under the Constitution of the country the terms of the Covenant could be applied directly in the courts, and that in case of conflict between domestic laws and international treaties, international standards took precedence. The Constitutional Court had directly cited the Covenant in some of its decisions, including in a case involving the police, in which it ruled that the duration of detention without approval of a judge could not exceed 24 hours, and that duration of detention on suspicion of a crime could not exceed 48 hours.

The Government had ratified the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant in June, Mr. Khalafov said.

Regarding what the Committee called numerous allegations of torture or other degrading treatment or punishment by law-enforcement agents, Mr. Khalafov said the Government had adopted a special order in response to recommendations issued by the Committee against Torture and Amnesty International; a committee had been set up and entrusted with the task of verifying these allegations of torture and with making recommendations that would prevent such violations. The courts were now responsible for ensuring that torture was not carried out, and the Supreme Court had adopted measures to that end that applied to all courts and to preliminary investigation bodies. The relevant order said courts must properly seek their evidence, and that no special situations, including states of emergency, could justify the use of torture.

If the court determined that any evidence had been acquired improperly, it could be excluded from the general body of evidence, Mr. Khalafov said; further, the court must take a decision regarding the official who had allowed improper treatment to occur, and could in fact take criminal action against such officials. To increase supervision of the prosecutor's office, courses had been included on human rights for relevant personnel; such courses also had been provided for penitentiary personnel. All those working in penitentiaries had further been ordered to take action against any occurrence of torture or ill-treatment, and national and international human-rights organizations had been provided the opportunity to visit prisons and to meet with those detained. An inspectorate for internal investigations had been set up with the task of investigating all allegations of torture. Another measure stipulated that no Government amnesty would apply to persons carrying out torture or ill-treatment. An article of the criminal procedure code explicitly prohibited torture or ill-treatment when carrying out a criminal investigation. Further, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission of Human Rights had visited the country and issued a report, which a Government commission had studied. Eleven officers had been dismissed from various ministries for violations related to ill-treatment, and seven had been criminally prosecuted; in addition, 76 members of the police had been dismissed, 380 disciplined, and 53 held criminally liable.

Regarding allegations of the use of excessive force by law-enforcement officials during demonstrations and opposition rallies in the context of the November 2000 Parliamentary elections, Mr. Khalafov said the demonstrators had not been authorized to demonstrate in that particular location, since it was in a bad place in terms of traffic and other activities; another location had been chosen, but the demonstrators had illegally congregated in the first location. When they refused to disperse, there were struggles with the police. Eleven people had been detained; they had now all been released, and there were no criminal charges pending against them.

Legal assistance was provided to anyone held in detention once an accusation had been made, Mr. Khalafov said; at the time of detention, a detainee was told what his rights were; a legal-aid system provided lawyers to those who could not afford them, and in fact legal aid was provided even to those who refused it. Confidential interviews with legal counsel were allowed without any limit to their number or their length. A detainee must be able to place a phone call and to receive medical assistance. The place of detention and any change in location must immediately be communicated to relatives.

Prison conditions were governed by a code taking into account a number of international instruments, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Mr. Khalafov said. Visits by the Red Cross had been invited and expedited, and steps taken to improve prison conditions and food.

An inspectorate had been set up to consider complaints against prison officers, Mr. Khalafov said; the Ministry of Justice also had proposed to set up an inspectorate to monitor the implementation of penalties where there were allegations of violations of the rights of detainees; the Ministry regularly visited detention centres. Over nine months of last year, the Ministry of Justice had received nearly 2,000 applications of complaints, with over 200 related to the rights of detainees; these had been investigated in accordance with the time limits provided by law and appropriate responses had followed. A Constitutional law on an Ombudsman's office which was expected to be passed soon would give that office the power to investigate such complaints.

There had been over 100 allegations received by the Procurator's Office with regard to improper conduct of pre-trial investigations, Mr. Khalafov said; in 96 cases, criminal proceedings were refused because the reports were not confirmed; in the other cases investigations were carried out and those found responsible for violations held criminally liable.

In 2001, under an article prohibiting trafficking in persons for purposes of prostitution, eight persons had so far been charged, Mr. Khalafov said. Other aspects of domestic law dealt with sexual maltreatment of minors.

In response to allegations of corruption of the judiciary, Mr. Khalafov said, the Government had set out basic objectives and tasks for reform of the judicial system and had set up, as mentioned, a three-stage judiciary system. Under a Presidential decree of 1998, a judiciary legal council had been established with representatives of various courts; the council had outlined measures to review applications of judicial candidates to ensure impartiality and transparency and to allow supervision of the process by international observers. Judges now had permanent appointments and they enjoyed a series of legal guarantees related to their personal and social security. A campaign against corruption throughout society was under way.





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