Leila Yunus: Azerbaijan needs PACE's Special Rapporteur on torture

Faina Kungurova's death in custody on November 18, the only woman recognized by the Council of Europe to be political prisoner in 2001 and pardoned under insistence of the Special Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Political Prisoners, is a vivid evidence of the arbitrariness and violence reigning over not only the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also the Penitentiary System of Azerbaijan, runs the statement of the Institute for Peace and Democracy.

From 1995 to 2006, 52 political prisoners had died in Azerbaijan in custody, 9 more had died during that period within the first months after release. The figures were made public by Leila Yunus, head of the Azerbaijani human rights NGO, who also notes that in 2005-2007 "political repressions and legal arbitrariness have reached their culmination."

With account of the aforesaid, the Institute for Peace and Democracy is planning to send an official request to the State Office of Public Prosecutor about the circumstances of the death of Faina Kungurova and to lodge a complaint to the court against the head of the Shuvalan Pre-Trial Detention Facility (SIZO) and the head of the prison hospital located in Beyuk-Shore on their illegal actions or inaction that had entailed F. Kungurova's death.

Human rights activists draw attention to the fact that the Department for Public Relations of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice disseminated the statement about the cause of Faina Kungurova's death only on November 28, that is, 10 days after her death. And now, 10 days after the post-mortem examination and forensic-medical examination and 7 days after the burial, the conclusions of the forensic-medical examination are not ready yet.

The Institute for Peace and Democracy is also planning to apply to the PACE deputies about the necessity of appointing a Special Rapporteur on the problem of political prisoners and a Special Rapporteur on fulfilment by Azerbaijan of the obligation "to prosecute in the judicial order every representative of law enforcement bodies who beaks human rights in the course of executing his duties," in particular, in what refers to ban of tortures.