US Department of State: Azerbaijan gives no care to human rights

The US Department of State has disseminated a report on the situation with human rights and democracy in the world entitled "Support of Human Rights and Democracy in 2006," the Information Agency (IA) "Turan" informs. The report states that restrictions of mass media rights and prosecution of journalists took place in many countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Balkans.

The section on Azerbaijan runs that the situation with human rights in the country remained poor. "The right of the society to peacefully change the national legislation was restricted in the course of 2005 parliamentary elections." Tortures and beatings at custody facilities and police stations resulted in death of three persons. The conditions in prisons remain bad despite certain improvements. The facts of unreasonable arrests and detentions of political opponents to the authorities continue to appear. The law enforcement bodies are highly corrupted. Restrictions of the freedom of press and the freedom of assembly have become tougher. The US official representatives have called the State Office of Public Prosecutor to investigate the situation and bring the policemen in charge of violence against journalists to responsibility.

We remind you that the "Caucasian Knot" has informed earlier that on March 28 the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also criticized Azerbaijan for non-respect of human rights.