E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.1
page 4
5.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan
for having invited him and for extending full cooperation during his mission, thus greatly
facilitating his task. He also wishes to express his gratitude to the Coordinator ad interim of the
United Nations Development Programme and his staff for their logistical and other support.
I. THE PRACTICE OF TORTURE: SCOPE AND CONTEXT
A. General issues
6.
In recent years, the Special Rapporteur had received information according to which law
enforcement officials routinely tortured persons in pre-trial custody in order to punish them,
extract confessions or extort bribes from them or their family members. Those accused of
treason or other political offences were allegedly systematically tortured. Such abuse was said to
occur immediately after arrest, but could also continue for months throughout prolonged periods
of pre-trial detention. Indeed, detainees were reportedly frequently detained in temporary
holding facilities without being charged well beyond the period prescribed by law through
frequent recourse to extensions. It was also alleged that the police pressured detainees either not
to seek counsel or to accept State-appointed lawyers who might not work for their clients’ best
interest. Official forensic medical expertise was reported to be rare and difficult to obtain even
when requested by a lawyer. According to the information received, coerced confessions were
used by the Prosecutor General’s Office as evidence to secure convictions at trial. That Office
was said rarely to investigate allegations of torture, and even less frequently to prosecute police
officers allegedly responsible. Finally, the Special Rapporteur had also transmitted to the
Government information according to which conditions of pre-trial detention facilities amounted
to cruel and inhumane treatment (see E/CN.4/2000/9, paras. 37 et seq.).
7.
The request by the Special Rapporteur to visit the country also echoed the concerns
expressed by the Committee against Torture (CAT) in November 1999 after consideration of the
initial report on the measures taken to implement the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment submitted by Azerbaijan
(CAT/C/37/Add.3). The CAT concerns included the “numerous and continuing reports of
allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment
committed by law enforcement personnel [and] the apparent failure to provide prompt, impartial
and full investigation into numerous allegations of torture that were reported to the Committee,
as well as the failure to prosecute, where appropriate, the alleged perpetrators (ibid., para. 5 (b)
and (c)).” Accordingly, a working group chaired by the head of the Office of the President was
established by presidential decree dated 10 March 2000. It prepared a note entitled “Information
concerning the implementation of the recommendations of the CAT and the verification of
remarks of the Amnesty International report on Azerbaijan” (hereafter: Information note) that
was provided to the Special Rapporteur at the beginning of the mission. The information
contained in this note will be reflected in the report as appropriate.
8.
Furthermore, the Republic of Azerbaijan edited a booklet entitled “Compilation of
documents related to recommendations of the United Nations Committee against Torture and
Amnesty International concerning the report of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the field of
implementation of the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment” which contains not only the above-mentioned