Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 25 / Trend M.Aliyev /
The Azerbaijani Justice Ministry's Penitentiary Service is likely to cooperate with the OSCE in establishing a national preventive mechanism (NPM), Deputy Justice Minister and Penitentiary Service head Nazim Alakbarov said at a seminar in Baku today.
The OSCE Baku Office, Azerbaijani Justice Ministry Democracy and Human Rights Department and Public Defender's Office began a two-day workshop on creating the NPM to prevent torture and other forms of violence in prisons.
Alakbarov said Azerbaijan is pushing numerous reforms to the penal system.
"The Penitentiary Service intends to cooperate in establishing the NPM with the OSCE and the Public Defender's Office," he said. "Advice from the OSCE and other international organizations is important for expanding reforms."
According to Alakbarov, the service prevents torture in prisons and noticeable improvements have been achieved in this regard.
Creating the NPM will enhance the powers of the Azerbaijani Public Defender's Office, Human Rights Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanov said. According to the official, after the adoption of a protocol to the convention against torture in January 2008, Azerbaijan began working actively in this direction.
"We sent a proposal to the president and parliament to establish an independent preventive mechanism at the Public Defender's Office and these activities require financial support," she said.
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