| Title | Azerbaijan: Time to abolish the death penalty |
| Publisher | Amnesty International |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1997 |
| Country | Azerbaijan |
| Topics | Death penalty |
| Citation / Document Symbol | EUR 55/002/1997 |
| Reference | Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary movement that works to prevent some of the gravest violations by governments of people's fundamental human rights. The main focus of its campaigning is to: free all prisoners of conscience people detained an |
| Cite as | Amnesty International, Azerbaijan: Time to abolish the death penalty, 1 March 1997, EUR 55/002/1997, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9850.html [accessed 8 June 2023] |
| Comments | Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has taken several welcome steps towards abolition of the death penalty, including exempting all women, and men over 65, from this punishment, and reducing the number of capital crimes. In addition official sources report that there have been no executions in the country since 1993, and President Heydar Aliyev has regularly exercised his constitutional power to commute death sentences in recent years. Amnesty International welcomes these steps but remains concerned, however, about a number of aspects connected with the death penalty in Azerbaijan. The stay on executions, for example, appears to be the de facto policy of the current authorities but, unless enshrined as official policy, could be reversed swiftly and easily. Although executions have halted in recent years, death sentences have not, 41 were handed down by the courts in 1996, and conditions on death row are said to be extremely difficult owing to severe overcrowding. In addition, there have been allegations that law enforcement officials have used physical or other means of duress in seeking to obtain confessions, including in cases where the offence carries a possible death sentence. Amnesty International considers that the death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and opposes its use in all cases without reservation. This paper reviews the use of the death penalty in Azerbaijan, and ends with recommendations urging moves to abolish this punishment totally and permanently. |
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