Ombudsman visits members of Armenian terrorist groups arrested in Azerbaijan

The Ombudsman of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, together with her National Preventive Group members within the NPM jurisdiction, make regular visits to the facilities, which persons cannot leave on their own will, Report informs, citing the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Constant visits were paid to the facilities where Armenian nationals, deprived of their liberty as a result of criminal offenses committed in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan as sabotage-terror groups after the cessation of hostilities following the tripartite statement dated November 10, 2020, concluded by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia. Physicians and psychologists from the NPM Group also attended those visits.

In those facilities, the Ombudsman, Sabina Aliyeva, and her NPM Group members had private talks with the detained nationals of Armenia, along with other detainees. The legislative acts on the appeal mechanisms in their languages were presented to those persons.

During on-site visits, the issues related to the detention conditions in cells, including their conditions, size, lighting, ventilation, personal hygiene and sanitary, healthcare service, and nutrition, were investigated.

Furthermore, during the systematic visits, it was observed that compliance with the requirements of the relevant legal norms concerning those persons was put in place, and their rights, including the necessary healthcare and psychological services, were ensured. In addition, the interviewed detainees did not complain about their detention condition, treatment, access to phone calls and correspondence, the right to receive information about the outside world (TV and publications), and access to healthcare services. It was observed that the cells were provided with literature and information leaflets (also in their languages), and those detained persons were provided with unhindered meeting opportunities with the ICRC representatives.

This must be noted that the trial proceedings of those accused persons were also kept under focus, and independent observations were carried out along with the visits.

At the time of monitoring, it was observed that all hearings were organized in compliance with the legislation and with respect to human rights and freedoms, as well as that the accused were provided with lawyers and interpreters, and all legal opportunities were created for all the accused and their lawyers.