On December 12, news reported about Elbeyi Karimli, a member of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), committed suicide in the medical unit of Penitentiary Institution No. 2, where he was being detained. Karimli, who was considered a political prisoner, was sentenced to 6 years in prison under Article 234.4.3 of the Criminal Code by the Baku Grave Crimes Court on April 7, 2024. He and human rights defenders cited his writing “Stalin” on a statue of ex-president Heydar Aliyev as the reason behind his arrest.
During his sentence, E. Karimli was subjected to inhumane treatment, was placed in a punishment cell (“kartzer”), and went on a hunger strike. Critics are ambiguous about the news of his suicide, complaining about the prevalence of deaths in penitentiary institutions and the lack of effective investigation into such facts.
“Tribunat” analyzed the State's obligations to protect the life and health of persons in places of detention and penitentiary institutions using the example of the case of Elbeyi Karimli.
The instance of the APFP activist is not the first case of mysterious deaths of individuals in politically motivated criminal cases in Azerbaijan. In 2007, news spread about the mysterious deaths and suicides of Faina Kungurova, a member of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, and in 2017, public activist Mehman Galandarov in detention facilities. In these cases, relatives of the deceased and human rights activists stated that there were no obvious causes for the deaths, that an independent investigation into the events had been obstructed, that the investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies was fruitless, and that the deceased were likely subjected to inhumane treatment. A similar fate also befell Alihuseyn Shaliyev, former head of the Entrepreneurship Development Department of the former Ministry of Economic Development, former deputy head of the Anti-Terrorism Center of the former Ministry of National Security, Colonel Ilgar Aliyev, and former chief operational officer of the Main Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, police lieutenant colonel Haji Mammadov.
One of the main rights of an individual is sentenced is the right to personal security. This position can be found in the Code of Execution of Sentences (hereinafter referred to as the CES), the Law “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Individuals in Places of Detention” and the Internal Disciplinary Rules of Penitentiary Institutions. If a prisoner’s life, health or personality is threatened by other prisoners or other individual, he or she has the right to submit an application or an oral appeal to the administration of the penitentiary institution to ensure own safety. The administration of the penitentiary institution executing the sentence makes a decision to transfer the convict to a safe place or to take other measures to eliminate the danger. One of the main elements of the regime of penitentiary institutions is constant control over convicts. In accordance with Article 75 of the Criminal Code, technical means of control are used in the institution for this purpose.
Domestic legislation also provides for obligations regarding medical and sanitary provision of prisoners, including psychological assistance. Prisoners have the right to apply for psychiatric assistance in prisons. Professional staff must be available in prisons to provide specialized psychological assistance. Nonetheless, reports indicate that psychiatric assistance in various prisons is not accessible and satisfactory.
By Article 224 of the Internal Disciplinary Rules, handcuffs are applied to prisoners in cases of suicide.
One of the problems that has emerged in the wake of Elbeyi Karimli's alleged suicide is the lack of detailed data on self-harm, suicide and deaths in penitentiary institutions in Azerbaijan. The relevant state bodies do not collect statistical data on this indicator. In accordance with the Council of Europe's Annual Penal Statistics (SPACE) report, 2 percent of prisoners, or 178 people, died in 2023. 6 of these deaths were due to suicide. Although this figure may not seem large at first glance, there are questions about whether it is realistic, since the opportunities for public oversight in the penitentiary sector are not extensive. There is no information on the cases listed in the reports of the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture under the Ombudsman, which claims to carry out this role.
The lack of transparency also does not allow us to obtain information on whether any activities is being done to solve the problems faced by prisoners in penitentiary institutions. There are allegations in the press about widespread inhumane treatment, pressure and intimidation against prisoners, inadequate financial and living conditions, and bribery in Penitentiary Institution No. 2, where Karimli is being held. In this context, it is infeasible to assess whether preventive steps have been taken to address self-harm and suicide in penitentiary institutions and the general situation.
Law enforcement agencies open a criminal case and conduct an investigation into any suicide, including suicide in penitentiary institutions, under Article 125 of the Criminal Code (bringing oneself to the point of suicide). Although the news about E. Karimli's suicide also mentions that a criminal case has been opened at the Sabunchu District Prosecutor's Office, the initial results of the criminal case are unknown and there are questions about its effectiveness in general. For example, although a criminal case was initiated in the case of Mehman Galandarov, which was highlighted above, the criminal case was later terminated due to the lack of criminal elements.
The right to security of prisoners and convicts is also reflected in international and regional instruments. A significant difference in relation to domestic acts is that international instruments are more specific in terms of suicide prevention. According to the requirements of Article 47 of the European Prison Rules and Article 30 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), prisons must pay special attention to cases of self-harm and suicide and provide appropriate psychological and psychiatric care. In accordance with the Commentary on the European Prison Rules, conditions of detention can seriously affect the mental state of prisoners. Penitentiary bodies should seek to reduce the extent of this impact and should also establish procedures to monitor its impact on prisoners. Measures should be taken to identify prisoners who are at risk of self-harm or suicide. Staff should be adequately trained to recognise the signs of potential self-harm. When prisoners are diagnosed with a mental illness, they should not be detained in prison and should be transferred to a psychiatric facility.
Suicide prevention guidelines are also widely adopted in the practice of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter, CPT). CPT’s 3rd General Report stipulates that suicide prevention is one of the essential elements of prison health care. The prison should establish appropriate procedures for the provision of these services. When prisoners are transferred to prisons, the risk of suicide should be assessed and taken into account; this facilitates the implementation of preventive measures. Prison staff should be informed and trained on how to recognise signs of suicide risk. CPT shared its recommendations on suicide prevention with the Government during its last ad hoc visit in 2022.
There is extensive case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter, ECtHR) on the subject of deaths in prisons. Under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone has the right to life protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life for an offence punishable by death by law except by a sentence passed by a court. This article imposes on States, in addition to the negative obligation to refrain from deprivation of his life, a positive obligation to protect the life of the individual. According to the ECtHR, prisoners are considered to be in vulnerable position and the Government has an obligation to protect them. The Government’s obligation to protect prisoners and its accountability for this is all the more stringent when the individual has died (Salman v. Turkey, §99).
Prison authorities must take active steps to protect the life of the individual, taking into account his rights and freedoms. If necessary to take more severe measures that may infringe on the rights and freedoms of the individual, this must be assessed in accordance with the circumstances of the case (Renolde v. France; §83). This obligation includes the obligation to protect the individual not only from other individuals in prison, but also from ownself. This imposes on Azerbaijan an obligation to protect the life and health of persons in prison and, in the event of death, to conduct an adequate investigation into the accident.
In practical terms, to understand this obligation, it is possible to look at some of the ECtHR’s decisions against Azerbaijan under Article 2. So far, there have been 15 decisions in which Azerbaijan has been found to have violated Article 2. Cases involving mysterious deaths in penitentiary institutions include Mustafayev v. Azerbaijan, Mammadov and others v. Azerbaijan, and Shuriyya Zeynalov v. Azerbaijan. In the first case, the complaint concerned the death of the applicant’s son, who was a prisoner in Gobustan prison, in a fire at the institution, and in the second and third cases, the death of a Talysh social activist and a driver in the Ministry of National Security’s pre-trial detention center, respectively. In all three cases, relatives of the prisoners were skeptical of the reasons presented by state agencies, saying that the post-mortem investigation was insufficient.
In all three cases, the Court concluded that the Government had violated Article 2 of the Convention. The Court divided the violation into two parts: substantive and procedural. A substantive violation refers to the fact that the prisoner was detained in a penitentiary institution, that the state authorities took appropriate steps to prevent this from happening, and that the fact of death was clearly and publicly disclosed (Shuriyya Zeynalov, §§72-75). A procedural violation refers to whether the results of the investigation into the circumstances of the death were effective (Mustafayev, §§78-82). Substantive and procedural violations are independent in nature, and as in the Mammadov and others, the Court may conclude that there has been a procedural violation despite the absence of a substantive violation of Article 2 in a given case.
“Tribunat” concludes that in the mysterious suicide of APFP activist Elbeyi Karimli, it is possible to observe a violation of the state's positive obligation to protect the life and health of prisoners. Domestic and international penitentiary legislation obliges the state to take active measures to protect the life and health of prisoners and establishes an obligation to prevent suicides. The mysterious death, the state's failure to provide detailed information about the incident, and the ineffective investigation may lead to a violation of the rights protected by Article 2 of the Convention.
