European Anti-torture Committee issues public statement on Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading  Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has issued a public statement on Azerbaijan.

As the Committee's press service reports, this Statement, which is  made in application of Article 10 (2) of the Convention establishing  the Committee ( According to Article 10 (2) of the Convention, "If  the Party fails to co-operate or refuses to improve the situation in  the light of the Committee's recommendations, the Committee may  decide, after the Party has had an opportunity to make known its  views, by a majority of two-thirds of its members to make a public  statement on the matter), addresses the persistent lack of  cooperation by the Azerbaijani authorities with the CPT.

"The reason behind this exceptional decision to make a public  statement is the outright refusal of the Azerbaijani authorities to  cooperate with the CPT. The Committee made genuine attempts to engage  in a constructive dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities to  address matters that lie at the heart of the CPT's raison d'etre. The  CPT has detailed in its visit reports that it continues to receive  allegations of severe acts of ill-treatment and even of torture by  police officers. Yet, no action has been taken by the Ministry of  Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan to implement the Committee's  long-standing recommendations to end such practices. Further, the  Committee received no responses to the letters from its President to  promote dialogue through holding high-level talks in Baku or even  following the notification of a visit to the Azerbaijani authorities.  This represents a fundamental and unprecedented breach of the  Convention.

Given the seriousness of the issues at stake, relating to  ill-treatment and even torture by law enforcement officials of  detained persons, the CPT has also decided to publish the report on  the 2022 ad hoc visit to Azerbaijan as an annex to the public  statement.

As is made clear in the public statement, the Committee hopes that  the lack of cooperation does not lead to a permanent rupture in  relations with the Azerbaijani authorities. The CPT stands ready to  support the authorities to take decisive steps to uphold the  fundamental values to which Azerbaijan, as a member state of the  Council of Europe, has subscribed. In furtherance of its mandate, the  Committee is fully committed to pursuing a dialogue with the  Azerbaijani authorities to this end," the Committee noted.