The main objective of the visit was to review the measures taken by the Azerbaijani authorities in response to the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits. In this connection, particular attention was paid to the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in police custody and penitentiary establishments, including remand prisoners, sentenced women and prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. The delegation also examined the treatment, conditions and legal safeguards offered to persons in the custody of the State Security Service, psychiatric patients and residents of a social care institution.
In the course of the visit, the delegation held consultations with Fikrat MAMMADOV, Minister of Justice, Oktay SHIRALIYEV, Minister of Health, Salim MÜSLÜMOV, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population, and Oruj ZALOV, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, as well as with other senior officials from these Ministries. It also met Elmira SULEYMANOVA, Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson), and staff of the National Preventive Mechanism department of her Office.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented the Azerbaijani authorities with its preliminary observations.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Mykola GNATOVSKYY, President of the CPT, Head of delegation
- Djordje ALEMPIJEVIĆ
- James McMANUS
- Vytautas RAŠKAUSKAS
- Olivera VULIĆ.
They were supported by Borys WÓDZ, Head of Division, and Dalia ŽUKAUSKIENĖ of the CPT's Secretariat, and assisted by two experts: Maïté DE RUE, Deputy to the Prosecutor-General, Liège, Belgium (former 1st Vice-President of the Committee), and Clive MEUX, forensic psychiatrist, Oxford, United Kingdom.
The delegation visited the following places of detention:
Establishments under the Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Temporary Detention Centre of the Main Department for Combating Organised Crime, Baku
- Detention Unit for Persons under Administrative Arrest, Baku
- Binagadi District Police Department and Temporary Detention Centre, Baku
- Narimanov District Police Department and Temporary Detention Centre, Baku
- Sabuncu District Police Department and Temporary Detention Centre, Baku
- Surakhani District Police Department and Temporary Detention Centre, Baku
- Police Station No. 11, Garadakh District, Baku
- Police Station No. 38, Garadakh District, Baku
- Police Station No. 36, Khatai District, Baku
- Main City Police Department and Temporary Detention Centre, Ganja
- Göygöl City Police Station and Temporary Detention Centre
- Ujar City Police Station and Temporary Detention Centre
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Justice
- Gobustan Prison
- Baku Pre-trial Detention Facility, Zabrat
- Penitentiary Establishment No. 4 (for women), Baku
- Central Prison Hospital, Baku
- Pre-Trial Detention Facility No. 2, Ganja
The delegation also paid a brief visit to Penitentiary Establishment No. 2 in Baku, in order to interview a sentenced inmate accommodated there.
Establishments under the authority of the State Security Service
- Investigative Isolator and Temporary Detention Facility, Baku
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Health
- Republican Psychiatric Hospital No.1, Mashtaga
- Psychiatric Hospital, Ganja
- Regional Psycho-Neurological Dispensary, Sheki
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population
- Psycho-Neurological Social Care Institution No. 3, Qırıqlı
