12 June - Minister of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic Colonel General Ramil Usubov received the PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora and Joseph Debono Grech.
Having welcomed the guests, the Minister detailed the main functions and areas of activities of his agency and noted that in general operative environment and criminal situation are under continuous control.
The Minister reminded that special plans of actions were elaborated in MIA and sent for execution for the purpose of fulfilment of all tasks arising from the Orders signed by President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev for protection of human rights in our country.
It was mentioned that the methodical work is carried out for further improvement of proficiency of the staff of internal affairs bodies and study of the international practice. For this purpose about 1500 MIA officers took part in various trainings, seminars and meetings organized under the auspices of the Council of Europe, OSCE and other international organizations for recent 4 years.
At the same time creation and operation of 102 Phone Service and the Safe City automatic supervision and control system serves the purpose of protection of human rights and freedoms at the highest level in the context of taking immediate measures against wrongful acts, protection of population, video-control over the law and order, uninterrupted and real-time video monitoring and provision of prompt response to emergency. In addition the Hot Line and electronic mail also play a significant role in efficient organization of public relations and efficient control over the prompt consideration of public appeals.
The Minister noted that extension of public relations and cooperation with mass media is always in the focus of attention, and emphasized that MIA officers pay special attention to all appeals concerning the facts of violation of human and civil rights and freedoms received from citizens and NGOs and appropriate measures are taken for their timely and impartial consideration and settlement. The Minister emphasized that for the purpose of creation of the conditions complying with international norms and standards and protection of prisoners’ rights new temporary detention facilities were built in 32 city/regional police departments of the republic and 51 temporary detention facilities were renovated from 2000 up to this date. The Minister told that representative offices of international organizations in Baku as well as the Ombudsman’s Apparatus and other NGOs conduct regular monitoring in temporary detention facilities of Azerbaijan and appropriate measures are taken for elimination of any identified deficiencies.
Special attention was also paid to gender equality during the meeting. The Minister brought to the notice of guests that 1935 women are employed in financial, medical, HR and other spheres and effective measures are taken against domestic crimes and violence including corruption offences. Co-rapporteurs expressed their gratitude to Ramil Usubov for hearty reception and detailed information on the work done in the field of human rights and freedoms protection. A number of other issues were also discussed at the meeting. The Minister gave detailed answers to all questions asked by the guests.