On February 19, 2020, the delegation of experts of the Council of Europe - John McQakin, Yorg Pont and the representative of the Baku office of the Council of Europe Aynur Guliyeva was accepted at the Head Office of the Penitentiary Service.
Welcoming the guests, the Deputy Chief of the Penitentiary Service, justice Major General Orkhan Gasimov said that the country's authorities take in the center of attention the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of prisoners and convicts, and the protection of their health. It was noted that significant positive changes have been made in the field of international cooperation, and that representatives of international organizations are closely acquainted with the conditions of detention of prisoners.
It was noted that the Penitentiary Service actively cooperates with reputable international organizations, is represented at numerous international events and is interested in learning advanced experience.
Deputy chief of the Service, evaluating the positive results gained as a result of cooperation of our country with the international organizations, noted that different seminars and trainings were held with the penitentiary’s officers within the framework of the project “Support of Penitentiary Reform in Azerbaijan-2” (SPERA-2) and the employees of the Service visited Spain and Kingdom of Sweden. He emphasized that the pilot project, which is successfully implemented in penitentiary facilities, will make a contribution in the future.
It was also noted that, the use of conditional release, which is a manifestation of the policy of humanism, is being applied at a high level in our country, which, in its turn, will accelerate the process of reforming the criminals and their social adaptation. At the same time, O. Gasimov said that the study of international experience to improve this field is still of interest.
The expert of the Council of Europe John McQakin, thanking the leadership of the Penitentiary Service for their warm welcome and cooperation, brought into notice that, the project “SPERA-2” was successfully applied in Azerbaijan with a purpose of co-ordinating the organization of health service in prisons, management of prisons and integration of ex-convicts to society with the advanced European standards and experience and strengthening a protection of prisoners in Azerbaijan. He stated that the project was based on the findings and recommendations of three evaluation reports on the organization of health services in prisons, mental health and prison management, and emphasized the importance of implementing pilot projects in various penitentiary facilities to improve health services.
Project Coordinator Aynur Guliyeva informed the participants about the main directions of the program.
Then a number of experts' questions were answered, constructive and effective exchange of views was held on the topic, new action plan was discussed.
