CAT/C/AZE/CO/4
5.
The Committee also welcomes the information indicating that article 293 of the
Criminal Code was revised pursuant to act No. 405-IVQD of 29 June 2012 to provide
criminal sanctions both for cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for
torture committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public
official or other person acting in an official capacity. The Committee further welcomes the
fact that the revision note to that article states that the concept of torture includes severe
pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, intentionally inflicted on a person for such
purposes as obtaining from him or her or a third person information or a confession,
punishing him or her for an act he or she or a third person has committed or is suspected of
having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or her or a third person, or for any
reason based on discrimination of any kind.
6.
The Committee appreciates the efforts of the State party to develop policies,
programmes and administrative measures, in response to the recommendations of the
Committee, through the adoption of a second national action plan for the protection of
human rights, for the period 2012-2015.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Pending follow-up issues from the previous reporting cycle
7.
While noting the information provided by the State party on 18 November 2010 on
the implementation of the recommendations contained in paragraphs 9, 11, 12 and 26 of the
Committee’s concluding observations on the third periodic report of Azerbaijan
(CAT/C/AZE/CO/3), the Committee notes with regret the lack of proper responses to those
recommendations.
Torture and ill-treatment
8.
The Committee is concerned about numerous and persistent allegations that torture
and ill-treatment are routinely used by law enforcement and investigative officials, or with
their instigation or consent, often to extract confessions or information to be used in
criminal proceedings. The Committee is further concerned that the State party deemed
unfounded all the allegations of torture and ill-treatment raised during the dialogue, several
of which had previously been addressed by other United Nations and regional human rights
mechanisms. The Committee is particularly concerned that, according to the State party’s
report, during the period 2010-2015 not a single individual was prosecuted despite the 334
complaints against officials of the prison system for torture or ill-treatment investigated by
the Prison Service between 2009 and 2013, the 984 similar complaints received by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs between 2010 and 2013 and the 678 similar complaints
received by the Office of the Procurator General between 2010 and 2013. In the
Committee’s view, the above is a strong indication that investigations into allegations of
torture are not conducted in a prompt, efficient and impartial manner (arts. 4, 12-13 and 1516).
9.
As a matter of urgency, the State party should:
(a)
Apply a zero tolerance approach to the continuing problem of torture
and to the practice of impunity;
(b)
Provide further specific information regarding the steps taken to
investigate cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment;
(c)
Continue to provide the Committee with up-to-date data on the number
of complaints received alleging torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement and
2