Leyla Yunus: "Torture and deaths in correctional facilities are among the urgent problems of violation of human rights in Azerbaijan"

"Beating, torture and death in the detention facilities, controlled by the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Justice (police stations and penitentiary facilities) remain one of the most urgent problems of the violation of human rights in Azerbaijan", says the report of the Foreign Ministry of October 28.

The institute states that like in the previous years (at least 9 people died of torture in the police stations in 2006), none of the Interior Ministry officials were brought to criminal responsibility, says the institute.

The criminal actions against the prisoners in the correctional facilities, controlled by the Justice Ministry, also do not have any implications for those officials of the Ministry of Justice, who violated the law.

Thus, the statement says that the objective investigation of the causes of death of Faina Kungurova in November of 2007 was not held and none of the Justice Ministry officials were brought to responsibility. None of the officials of the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Justice have been brought to responsibility under articles 113 (torture) and 133 (use of torture) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan since 2000, according to the statement.

"The claims against chief of penitentiary facility No 14 Arshad Hasanov and chief of this colony regime Elzamin Guliyev must be supported by all citizens of Azerbaijan", considers the institute.

The statement points at the recent case of beating correspondent Mirza Sakit (Sakir Zahidov) "sentenced under the fabricated charges" on October 18. The statement demands to put an end to such crimes in the system of the Ministry of Justice.

The authors of the statement put the responsibility for the violation of human rights on Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and Justice Minister Fikret Mamedov.

The press service for the Interior Ministry could not be reached for comments about the facts of tortures in the police stations.

/Day.Az/