Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility: Allegations of Torture, Ill-Treatment andRestrictions on Detainees’ Rights (January–June 2026)

The Independent Lawyers Network prepared these observations following the collection, verification, and monitoring of allegations and complaints of torture, ill-treatment, and interferences to the detainees’ right to contact with their families in Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility between January and June 2026.

Independent monitoring of detention places and prison establishments is effectively absent in Azerbaijan. The country lacks a genuinely independent National Preventive Mechanism, and independent civil society organizations are not permitted to monitor detention facilities or penitentiary institutions.

Law-enforcement authorities systematically either deny torture and ill-treatment complaints without any investigation or issue repetitive, formulaic refusal decisions without conducting objective and comprehensive investigations.

In practice, the judiciary has demonstrated persistent structural deficiencies in ensuring the independent and objective examination of allegations of torture and ill-treatment involving law-enforcement officials. The concerns documented in this monitoring brief are consistent with the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ supervision of the execution of the Muradova, Mammadov (Jalaloglu) and Mikayil Mammadov groups of cases. In its latest examination in December 2025, the Committee reiterated that ill-treatment by law-enforcement authorities remains a persistent problem in Azerbaijan and noted that significant improvement is necessary to increase supervision over investigations into ill-treatment, including to address the root causes of the lengthy investigative and judicial proceedings.

Similar concerns have been raised by the UN Committee against Torture. In its 2024 Concluding Observations, the Committee expressed concern that human rights defenders and journalists continue to face physical and judicial harassment, torture and ill-treatment, while allegations of such abuses have not been subject to prompt, independent and effective investigations or resulted in the prosecution of those responsible.

Against this background, the Independent Lawyers Network considers that the consistency of the allegations concerning Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility, documented between January and June 2026, together with the concrete and detailed nature of the testimonies, their corroboration by other evidence, and the recurring pattern of incidents, require objective, thorough and effective investigations.

However, impunity for torture and ill-treatment in the penitentiary system has become so entrenched and systemic that torture and related complaints consistently fail to lead to effective investigations or to the identification and accountability of those responsible.

Key Findings

This monitoring brief summarizes the principal findings and recommendations arising from this documentation. The monitoring identified:

• At least 5 publicly reported allegations of torture or ill-treatment: At least 5 allegations reported during first 6 months period of 2026 that contain allegations of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, physical violence, gender-based violence against detainees held in Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility.
• At least 3 formal complaints related to torture and ill-treatment submitted to domestic authorities: Three complaints submitted to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Justice’s the Penitentiary Service have not resulted in prompt, impartial or objective investigations.
• A widespread suspension of family visits affecting most political prisoners since February 2026: Since February 2026, most of political prisoners have reportedly been deprived of regular in-person family visits guaranteed under Azerbaijani legislation. Visits have been replaced by brief telephone conversations through glass partitions without any lawful basis under domestic legislation.
• Repeated allegations implicating the same detention official: Despite repeated allegations against specific detention officials, notably Javid Gulaliyev, Deputy Head of the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility, known among detainees as the “king of torture”, the authorities have neither initiated nor announced any effective investigation, nor publicly condemned the alleged acts of torture or ill-treatment. Various complaints contain mutually corroborating allegations that Javid Gulaliyev made sexually explicit, degrading and humiliating remarks towards women political prisoners.
• Continuing absence of effective investigations: Although cooperation with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) formally resumed in September 2025, Baku Pre-Trial Detention Facility was not visited despite numerous publicly reported allegations during 2024 and 2025 years. The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture has not visited Azerbaijan since 2015. The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) has not provided any visible or effective response to these public allegations widely distributed in media.

Documents

• Full report
• Annex 1