OSCE Office in Baku trains detention facilities staff on rights of suspects and accused

From 12 to 13 December, the OSCE Office in Baku held a training course for police and penitentiary officers in the city of Ganja in western Azerbaijan on international standards related to the treatment of suspects and accused in custody.

The purpose of the two-day training was to enhance the professional skills of police and penitentiary personnel, in order to help improve detention conditions and ensure safeguarding the rights of suspects and the accused. The event participants shared experiences and learned about good practices related to police custody and remand detention applied in other OSCE countries.

An international expert from the United Kingdom, an in-house expert from the OSCE Office in Baku, as well as local experts from the Interior Ministry, the Penitentiary Service and the Ombudsman’s Apparatus delivered lectures about the international standards on the treatment of detainees, domestic legislation, prevention of ill-treatment and the role of the National Preventive Mechanism, as well as about record-keeping standards.

Azerbaijan ratified in 2009 the Optional Protocol of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, which recommends that signatory states develop National Preventive Mechanisms to provide regular inspections of conditions of places where persons are deprived of their liberty, as these persons are at higher risk of ill-treatment, not having the opportunity to leave a potentially threatening environment.

Previously, the OSCE Office organized a similar seminar in Baku; it plans to continue with this training activity in 2012.