Committee against Torture

List of issues prior to the submission of the fourth periodic report of Azerbaijan (CAT/C/AZE/4),*adopted by the Committee at its forty-eighth session, 7 May–1 June 2012

Specific information on the implementation of articles 1 to 16 of the Convention, including with regard to the Committee’s previous recommendations

Articles 1 and 4

1.In the light of the Committee’sprevious concluding observations (CAT/C/AZE/CO/3),please provide detailed information on legal reforms undertaken to bring the definition of torture in line with article 1 of the Convention, in particular regarding the inclusion of the purposes of torture and the element of consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity (para. 8).

2.Please provide updated information on the reasons for prosecuting the following perpetrators under “abuse of power” and not for acts of torture: Major Valad Gurbanov and Lieutenant Rustam Ahmedov in February 2010, following an incident in which two conscripts under their command killed several soldiers and each other, and particularly indicate whether Valad Gurbanov or Rustam Ahmedov have received criminal punishment related to ill-treatment or dedovshchina. Please also provide information regarding any disciplinary measures undertaken with regard to persons found to be responsible for torture or ill-treatment, including Lieutenant-Colonel Agamamed Mamedow and Major Babek Guseinov.

3.Please provide information about the measures in place to monitor the obligatons of police and prison officials to provide safeguards for detainees. More specifically, please provide data on cases in which law enforcement or prison officials have received disciplinary or criminal penalties for failing to respect detainees’ rights.

4.Please indicate whether the State party has investigated the allegations of torture or ill-treatment related to the following reported cases of deaths in custody: Turac Zeynalov, (died 28 August 2011, Ministry of National Security); Elvin Askerov (died January 2011, Baku police station); Nadir Abdullayev (died 28 September 2010, Ujar District police); and Jeyhun Zarbaliyev (died 25 March 2010, Nasimi District Police Department). Please also indicate what outcomes and penalties, if any, resulted from such investigations.

Article 2

5.With regard to article 2 of the Convention,in the light of the concluding observations of the Committee and those of the Human Rights Committee, please provide information on steps taken by the State party to ensure that all detained persons are afforded, in law and in practice, fundamental safeguards from the very outset of detention (paras. 9 and 11). Moreover, please provide information on measures taken to:

(a)Ensure immediate access to independent legal counsel and an independent medical examination;

(b)Ensure that all individuals are registered from the actual moment of deprivation of liberty;

(c)Ensure that suspects are brought before a judge as soon as possible;

(d)Implement the systematic use of audio and video equipment in police stations and detention facilities;

(e)Improve the central registration system for all detainees.In this regard, please indicate if the new registration network for convicted and remand prisoners, that was to become operational in 2010, is currently functioning. Also indicate whether police station, remand prison, and other prison registries are accessible by the public, and describe the procedure by which individuals in detention, their family members and legal counsel can access them;

(f)Address the shortage of public defenders and ensure that they are adequately paid for their work;

(g)Ensure that detainees are provided information on their right to demand and independent medical examination by a doctor and to ensure the accuracy of medical reports, including the right to see the reports and receive a copy of the report itself;

(h)Ensure that the personnel of police stations duly inform the families of persons who are detained;

(i)Ensure that detainees live in decent conditions such as having an access to beds, bathroom, toilets, and medical care,

6.In the light of the previous concluding observations of the Committee (para. 17) and those of the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 12), please provide information on steps taken to guarantee the full independence of the judiciary in line with the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary. In particular, information should be provided on steps taken to ensure the independence of the Judicial Council in relation to the executive. Moreover, please provide information on efforts to combat corruption in the judiciaryand information on steps taken to ensure that bribes related to corruption issues, are no longer used in prison and the police department.

7.In the light of the previous concluding observations of the Committee, please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the Ombudsman’s office is, in practice, a functioning, independent body, in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) (para.10). With reference to the State party’s ratification of the Optional Protocol, please provide information on steps taken to establish a functioning national preventive mechanism.

8. In the light of the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 7 and 19) as well as those of the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 5) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/AZE/CO/4, paras. 21-22) please provide information on the following:

(a)The number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions (including the type and, if applicable, length of sanctions) in cases of violence against women and girls in the context of domestic violence;

(b)Measures taken to ensure that protection measures are put in place for violations against women and girls in the context of domestic violence, including any awareness-raising campaigns and training on domestic violence for officials;

(c)Measures taken to ensure that all allegations of such violence are promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and that the perpetrators are prosecuted and punished;

(d)Measures taken to protect women who have been victims of violence, including by providing shelters and counselling services in sufficient numbers and with adequate standards;

(e)Measures taken to encourage the reporting of cases of domestic violence by victims.

9.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 19), as well as those of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/AZE/CO/4, para. 21), please provide information on the status of the draft law on domestic violence and on the measures taken to ensure that it encompasses provisions for the prosecution and punishment of offenders, adequate access to justice for victims, as well as protection and rehabilitation measures. Please comment on the reports about the prevalence of violence against women in Azerbaijan and the delays in the adoption of the law on domestic violence. Please provide information on the current definition of rape contained in the Criminal Code.

10.In the light of the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/AZE/CO/6, para. 14), please provide information on the status of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in national law. Please indicate whether this status is different from that of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in theory as well as in practice. Moreover, please indicate whether there have been any cases of direct application by Azerbaijani courts of the provisions of the Convention. If this is the case, please provide information on such cases.

11.Please comment on the current legislative provisions regarding the registration, as well as other obligations, of international as well as national NGOs. Please also provide information on measures taken to ensure that these obligations do not impair the activities of NGOs in the country, in line with the international obligations of the State party.

12.Please provide information on measures taken to ensure that internally displaced persons enjoy access to all fundamental judicial safeguards.

13.Please provide information on the number of complaints, investigations and convictions (including the type and, if applicable, length of sanctions) in cases of human trafficking, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity (or origin of victims) (para. 20). Please provide details on the measures taken to provide rehabilitation and reintegration for victims of trafficking, including through the provision of shelters. Please also indicate if there are any new training programmes for law enforcement officials, migration officials and border police on the causes, consequences and incidence of human trafficking.

Article 3

14.Please provide data (para. 22) referring to the reporting period and disaggregated by age, sex and ethnicity on the following:

(a)The number of asylum applications registered;

(b)The number of applicants in detention;

(c)The number of applicants whose applications for asylum have been accepted;

(d)The number of applications for asylum submitted and those accepted on grounds that the applicants had been tortured or might be tortured if returned to their country of origin;

(e)The number of cases of refoulement or expulsion;

(f)The number of cases of non-return on the ground that the person may be subjected to torture.

(g)The number of requests for extradition received and their outcome.

15.Please indicate if “diplomatic assurances” or the equivalent thereof have been offered to or accepted by the State Party with regard to returning persons to countries where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture (para. 22). If so, please provide detailed information on the following:

(a)The procedures in place for obtaining diplomatic assurances;

(b)Steps taken to establish an appropriate mechanism for reviewing diplomatic assurances in any applicable case;

(c)Steps taken to guarantee effective post-return monitoring arrangements;

(d)Cases of refoulement, extradition and expulsion subject to receipt of diplomatic assurances that have occurred since the consideration of the previous report;

(e)Assurances that have not been honoured and any appropriate actions taken in such cases by the State party.

16.In the light of the Committee’s concluding observations (para. 22) and those of the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 9), please provide information on measures taken to:

(a)Establish a mechanism allowing aliens who claim that their forced removal would put them at risk of torture or ill-treatment to file an appeal with suspensive effect;

(b)Ensure that the State party fulfils all its non-refoulement obligations under article 3 of the Convention, including the provision, in practice, of all procedural guarantees to the person expelled, returned or extradited.

17.In the light of the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/AZE/CO/6, para. 5), please comment on the allegations that some asylumseekers, including Russian citizens from Chechnya, are excluded from the refugee determination procedure.

Articles 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9

18.Please provide information on any mechanisms or agreements of judicial cooperation with another State or regional organization and whether these have led to any cases of expulsion or return to any State or requests for extradition, including of an individual suspected of having committed torture or ill-treatment. Please also indicate whether the State party has rejected, for any reason, any such extradition request and has started its own prosecution as a result. If so, please provide information on the status and outcome of such proceedings.

Article 10

19.In the light of the Committee’s concluding observations (para. 23), please provide information on what measures have been taken to:

(a)Ensure that all relevant personnel involved with detainees receive specific training on how to identify signs of torture and ill-treatment, on the basis of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1999) (the Istanbul Protocol);

(b)Strengthen the training on the Istanbul Protocol for all professionals involved in the investigation and documentation of cases of torture;

(c)Develop and implement a methodology to regularly assess the effectiveness of such training provided to law enforcement officials on the reduction of cases of torture, violence and ill-treatment;

(d)Include information on all provisions of the Convention, especially on the absolute prohibition on torture, in the training modules on rules, instructions and methods of interrogation.

Article 11

20.Please provide statistics, disaggregated by type of offence, ethnic origin, age and sex, on the number of persons held in pretrial detention and convicted prisoners. Please also provide statistics on the number of prisoners serving life sentences.

21.In the light of the concluding observations of the Committee (paras. 7 and 13; also CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 11), please provide information on:

(a)The number of deaths in custody, including during pretrial detention, as well as information on the sentence served by the prisoners in question and the reasons for those deaths. In particular, please provide information on any investigations and any disciplinary or criminal proceedings related to the death of Turac Zeynalov in the National Security Ministry (NSM) of Nakchivan on 24 August 2011.

(b)Measures taken to identify the reasons leading prisoners to commit suicide;

(c)Measures taken to ensure that independent forensic examinations are always carried out in cases of deaths in detention centres, and that their findings are accepted as evidence in criminal and civil cases.

22.Please provide information on how the State party has revised its use of solitary confinement in detention since its last periodic report (para. 13). In particular, please describe steps taken by the State party to limit the use of solitary confinement so that it is used a measure of last resort, for as short a time as possible, and under strict supervision and that there is a possibility of judicial review. Please also provide detailed statistics on the use of solitary confinement in detention centres, including information on the length and the reason for such confinement.

23.In the light of the Committee’s concluding observations (para. 25), please comment on the current state of the programme for juvenile justice reform. In particular, please provide information on measures taken to ensure the following:

(a)That minors have a lawyer and a trusted adult present at every phase of a proceeding, whether or not the minor has been deprived of liberty;

(b)That there is no abuse of minors in places of detention, and that all allegations of such abuse are promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and that the perpetrators are prosecuted and punished;

(c)That juveniles are held in detention only as a last resort;

(d)That juveniles are not placed in any kind of detention together with adults;

(e)Regular review of the conditions of detention of juveniles;

24.In the light of the Committee’s concluding observations (para. 12), please provide information on measures taken to:

(a)Ensure that the Public Affairs Committee is able to make unannounced visits to detention facilities, in principle as well as in practice. Please indicate whether the Minister for Justice’s order of 25 April 2006 has been amended with regard to subjecting these visits to internal disciplinary regulations.Please provide data on thenumber of unannounced visits undertaken by the Public Committee to the relevant detention centre and the names of all facilities receiving unannounced visits.

(b)Extend the term of the members of the Public Affairs Committee and other measures to ensure continuity in the expertise developed by the members. Please indicate whether members of the Committee have been reappointed for additional terms and the number of terms they have served.

(c)Ensure that the Public Affairs Committee is granted access, and is able to make unannounced visits, to pretrial detention centres and the remand centre under the Ministry of National Security.Please indicate how many times it has happened;

(d)Ensure that reports of the Public Committee are made available to the public.

25.Please provide information on steps taken to introduce the systematic use of audio and video equipment in police stations and detention facilities (CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 11). Please also provide statistics on the number of police stations and detention facilities equipped with such equipment.

26.Please indicate whether the remand centre of the Ministry of National Security has been transferred to the authority of the Ministry of Justice or if its use has been discontinued (para. 14; also CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 10).

27.Please provide information on the measures taken to eliminate the harassment of detainees because of their sexual orientation by law enforcement and penitentiary officials, as well as other detainees (CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 19). Please also provide statistical data on these incidents, including the number of complaints of alleged harassment, their investigation and prosecution and the results of the proceedings.

Articles 12 and 13

28.Please provide statistical data on the number of complaints of alleged torture and ill-treatment, their investigation and prosecution and results of the proceedings, including both penal punishment and disciplinary measures (paras. 7 and 9),in particular complaints investigated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The information should be disaggregated by gender, age, geographical region and ethnicity of the individual filing the complaint.Please also indicate whether any of the 336 complaints of torture and ill-treatment received by the Ministry of Justice Prison Service from 2005-2010, or any complaints received in 2011-2012, have resulted in a criminal case against an official, and if so, please indicate if the official was charged under article 133 of the Criminal Code.

29.Information before the Committee indicates that law enforcement officials have repeatedly used excessive force, especially in the context of demonstrations and manifestations, without those responsible being held accountable (paras. 9 and 13). Please provide information on the measures taken to:

(a)Prevent the excessive use of force by law enforcement and penitentiary officials;

(b)Ensure that all other allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including complaints of use of force, are promptly, impartially and effectively investigated.In this regard, please provide information regarding effective investigations of 169 alleged cases of torture in police custody in 2010 and of 136 complaints of alleged torture and ill-treatment received by the Azerbaijan Committee Against Torture during 2011;

(c)Establish an independent body with authority to receive and investigate all complaints of use of force as well as other abuses by law enforcement and penitentiary officials.

30.Information before the Committee indicates that the death of Mr Novruzali Mammadov while in detention was connected to his being subjected to ill-treatment. Please indicate whether the investigation of his death has been reopened. If so, please indicate what the results have been of this investigation. If not, please indicate the reason why it has not been reopened.

31.Please provide information on any new developments regarding the alleged torture of three children in custody, as taken up by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (A/HRC/4/33/Add.1, para. 6). Please provide a detailed account of the allegations made and any investigations into those allegations.

32.Please provide detailed statistical data on the number of allegations of torture or ill-treatment that were received and investigated by the Ombudsman’s office, as well as information on the number of investigations into torture or ill-treatment initiated on the office’s own accord (para. 10). This information should be disaggregated by type of allegation, the outcome of the investigations, as well as sex, age and ethnicity of the individual filing the complaint.

Article 14

33.Please provide details on steps taken to ensure that adequate compensation and appropriate rehabilitation programmes, including medical and psychological assistance, are provided to victims of torture and other ill-treatment (para. 24). Please also elaborate on the allocation of adequate resources to ensure that as full rehabilitation as possible is made available to all victims of such crimes.

34.Please provide information on redress and compensation measures ordered by the courts and actually provided to victims of torture, or their families, since the examination of the last periodic report (para. 24). This information should include the number of requests for compensation made, the number granted, and the amounts ordered and those actually provided in each case.

35.Please provide information on any new steps taken to ensure in the legal system of the State Party that the victim of an act of torture or his or her family members obtain redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible (para. 24). Please also indicate if any measures specifically directed at providing families of inmates who have died as a result of torture or ill-treatment, including by suicide (para. 13). Please provide a copy of legislation and any court decision applying or interpreting it.

Article 15

36.In the light of the Committee’s concluding observations (para. 18), please provide details on the following:

(a)Steps taken to ensure that evidence obtained through torture or ill-treatment may not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings;

(b)Measures taken to review cases of convictions based solely on confessions, to ensure that the evidence was not obtained through torture or ill-treatment;

(c)Steps taken to establish a mechanism that ensures that any person convicted on the basis of coerced evidence isafforded a new trial and adequate remedy.

(d)Measures taken to ensure that relatives are not pressured to withdraw testimonies and complaints of ill-treatment.

Article 16

37.In the light of the concluding observations of the Committee (para. 21) and those of the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/AZE/CO/3, para. 15), please provide details on the steps taken to introduce legal mechanisms and practical measures to fully guarantee and protect the right of freedom of opinion and expression of journalists and media representatives and to prevent them from being subject to any ill-treatment or excessive use of force from law enforcement personnel. Information before the Committee records several instances of violence against, and ill-treatment of, journalists by uniformed law enforcement officers, including against Afghan Mukhtarli on 7 January 2009; Elchin Hassanov, Natig Adilov and others on 10 May 2009; Seymur Haziev in May 2010,Leyla Mustafayeva in February 2010;as well as Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev, two journalists arrested on 13 March 2012 and detained in custody without legal assistance and without informed their families.

Please provide information on the results of any ensuing investigations of these allegations.

38.Please indicate whether steps have been taken to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment at home and to inform about and enforce such a prohibition (CRC/C/AZE/CO/2, paras. 44-45).

39.In the light of the Committee’s concluding observations (paras. 15 and 16), please provide information on measures taken to:

(a)Ensure that no one is involuntarily placed in psychiatric institutions for reasons other than medical, and then only on the advice of independent psychiatric experts;

(b)Ensure that decisions of involuntary placement in psychiatric institutions can be appealed;

(c)Establish an independent monitoring and inspection system for psychiatric institutions;

(d)Improve the living conditions for patients in psychiatric institutions, in particular those outside Baku.

40.In the light of the concluding observations of the Committee, please provide updated dataon measures taken to prevent violence and ill-treatment of conscripts in the army (para. 26). Please also provide information on the investigations undertaken for non-field related deaths, including suicides, in the armed services and for the unexplained deaths in custody of conscripts, in particular the following cases, which occurred over three days in 2011: Ruslan Kerimov on 30 October; Raul Agayev on 31 October and Azer Abbaszade on 1 November.

Other issues

41.Please provide updated information on measures taken by the State party to respond to any threats of terrorism and please describe if, and how, these anti-terrorism measures have affected human rights safeguards in law and practice and how it has ensured that those measures comply with all its obligations under international law, especially the Convention, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 1624 (2005). Please describe the relevant training given to law enforcement officers; the number of persons convicted under such legislation; the legal safeguards and remedies available to persons subjected to anti-terrorist measures in law and in practice; whether there are complaints of non-observance of international standards; and the outcome of these complaints.

42.Please indicate whether the State party foresees proceeding to the ratification of the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Please also indicate whether the State party considers becoming a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

General information on the national human rights situation, including new measures and developments relating to the implementation of the Convention

43.Please provide detailed information on the relevant new developments on the legal and institutional framework within which human rights are promoted and protected at the national level and that have occurred since the initial report, including any relevant jurisprudential decisions.

44.Please provide detailed relevant information on the new political, administrative and other measures taken to promote and protect human rights at the national level that have occurred since the previous periodic report, including on any national human rights plans or programmes, the resources allocated thereto, as well as their means, objectives and results.

45.Please provide any other information on new measures and developments undertaken to implement the Convention and the Committee’s recommendations since the consideration of the previous periodicreport in 2009, including the necessary statistical data, as well as on any events that have occurred in the State party and are relevant under the Convention.