AZERBAIJANI PRISONS ARE REAL PARADISE
E. Babayan.
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
11 Aug 2006
Perhaps this opinion is dominant in the neighboring republic, otherwise
Arzu Abdullayeva, the chair of the Azerbaijani committee of Helsinki
Civil Association would not announce in the press conference with the
Azerbaijani media, " I had not seen worse conditions anywhere else
than in the prison of the town of Shushi." The Azerbaijani defender
of human rights arrived in Karabakh for a two-day visit, and she had
a chance to meet with NKR President Arkady Ghukassian, the local NGOs
and even visit Shushi. The visit naturally sparked a strong reaction
among the Azerbaijani society. After returning to Baku Ms. Abdullayeva
gave a press conference and told about her impressions from
Karabakh. Unfortunately, some facts described by the Azerbaijani human
rights defender are not real. We asked Albert Voskanian, the chair
of the Civil Action Center Karabakh to comment on Arzu Abdullayeva’s
statement that in the prison of Shushi she became convinced that the
worst conditions are found in the prison of Shushi. She said, "The
first floor, where they keep 300 inmates, reminds a stable. I asked
to take us to the second floor. When our guides got instructions from
"above", we quickly passed by the cells on the upper floor.
Although it has been slightly repaired, some writings on the walls
made by the Azerbaijani POWs are still visible…" Albert Voskanian
said, "The Civic Action Center NGO that I lead regularly conducts
monitoring of NKR penitentiaries and reports to international,
regional and local organizations. The prison of Shushi was built in
1869. Its initial appearance was preserved in the Soviet times and
was similarly passed over to independent Nagorno Karabakh. This
penitentiary with 5 degrees of security is foreseen for 350
people. We have been conducting monitoring of the prison for many
years, and over this period the number of inmates was between 60 and
80. During the visit of Abdullayeva there were 78 prisoners, and 300
inmates mentioned by the Azerbaijani defender of human rights is not
true. As for the "stable", during the visits of foreign, including
Azerbaijani defenders of human tights to the prison they reported
normal conditions, including hygiene, food, medical service. Every
year the cells are partly repaired. Of course, the conditions are
far from the European standards, but these are being improved, and
our organization has a considerable contribution. It gives advice to
the leadership of the prison and provides aid, including computers,
newspapers, medicine, etc." Arzu Abdullayeva said the Azerbaijani
POWs are kept in Kelbadjar, in a place called Tunnel. She said it
is a gold mine, where the Azerbaijani POWs allegedly work. In this
connection Albert Voskanian said, "For already 13 years I have been
dealing with this problem (in 1993-1997 Albert Voskanian was deputy
chair of the NKR State Commission on POWs, Hostages and the Missing)
and I state that all the Azerbaijani POWs returned home within two
years after the cease-fire signed in May 1994. In cooperation with
our Azerbaijani counterparts we exchanged or returned to Azerbaijan
several hundreds of POWs, and tens of bodies." As for the words of Arzu
Abdullayeva that "the soldiers of the Sumgait regiment were buried
near Aghdara", Albert Voskanian said "necessary efforts are made
to find the places of mass burial, and it is not expedient to make
suggestions, and even specify names of people relying on rumors. It
may deal a new psychological blow to the relatives of the missing,
which would not be useful for the search."