AZERBAIJANI OMBUDSWOMAN ATTENDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN PRAGUE

Baku, 29 November,(AzerTAj)Azerbaijan`s ombudswoman Elmira Akhundova attended a two-day international conference held in Prague, Czech Republic.

The event, organized by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) and the Bristol University Law School, focused on Optional Protocol to the
UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT), its purpose and implementation mechanisms.
The meeting was attended by representatives of international anti-torture
organizations, scholars and experts of the Bristol University, ombudspersons from
European and Southern Caucasus countries.
E. Akhundova informed the participants about Azerbaijani government`s efforts to
improve existing legislation and adoption of new legal acts on protection of rights
of prisoners as well as suspects in the police stations`s detention units.
The ombudswoman also raised awareness of human rights activists about the fact that
Azerbaijani captives including women and children were subjected to moral and
physical torture during the long-running conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. She said
Armenian aggression resulted in occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan`s territory
and driving over one million people from their homes.

-0-