Baroness Vivien Stern: "Punishments applied in Azerbaijan are more humanistic now"

The prisons in Azerbaijan are in a transitional period she said after her visit to Detention Place#1 and Isolated Ward#1. She stressed that Azerbaijan is the member of the Council of Europe and has accepted all its terms. The Baroness came to the conclusion that there are still soviet systems and great differences as in that system the pisoners' rights were not respected. According to the European system, the prison should be rehabilitation for prisoners but not detention place.

The Baroness said reforms have been made in penal system and gave some examples.

"Before the inspectors used to carry bludgeons, now they even do not have guns the punishments were more serious but now they are humanistic. There is some problems concerning health and they need to be solved as the prisoners carry them out with themselves."

Touching upon the subject of suicides, the Baroness emphasized that these indicators are higher in Great Britain as compared with Azerbaijan. "There are 78,000 prisoners in Great Britain. Nearly 100 suicide cases have been prevented. The Baroness added that prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment in Azerbaijan differed to the systems which exist in Great Britain; there the prisoners are not kept in other jails but together with all prisoners." APA