National Preventive Group of the Ombudsman carried out a visit

The members of the National Preventive Group (NPG) carried out a visit without prior notice to Guba city Boarding School for Children deprived of Parental Care, subordinated to the Ministry of Education, upon the instruction of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva.

The visit organized on the basis of OPCAT requirements and of the Constitutional Law on the Ombudsman of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was aimed at studying the situation with preventive measures taken against spread of novel COVID-19 infection, conditions of living, treatment of children, arrangement of their leisure time, nutrition, water supply, as well as corresponding documentation. The NPG members monitored bedrooms, medical station, classrooms, kitchen and other administrative rooms.

In order to investigate the treatment issues, NPG members heard several persons confidentially in the facility and examined the situation about ensuring their rights on the spot.

During the visit, NPG members held awareness-raising discussions based on the UNCRC and the Law on the Rights of the Child within the Human Rights Month-long Campaign held in Azerbaijan from May 18 to June 18 at the initiative of the Ombudsman. They gave recommendations on maintaining social distance, strictly following hygiene rules for the protection against COVID-19 epidemic, also on the treatment issues.