National Preventive Group visited Prison of Penitentiary Service

According to the instruction of the Commissioner, Ombudsman’s National Preventive Group conducted 2-day monitoring in Prison of the Penitentiary Service under the Ministry of Justice in Gobustan without prior notice.

The aim of this visit was to monitor general custody conditions, treatment, provision of the rights of the detained persons, documentation and to investigate received applications.

During the visit, regime corpses where persons sentenced to life imprisonment and prisoners serving part of his sentence in prison according to the court decision, penalty isolator, medical sanitary unit, meeting places, canteen, and other premises were monitored, custody conditions, the quality of medical service, nutrition, provision with hot and drinking water, and issues like walking, telephone calls and meetings were examined. It was found that custody conditions in some regime corpses need to be improved.

Prisoners including persons sentenced to life imprisonment were received in private, their applications and complaints, as well as issues raised by them were investigated.

Some persons were received in private upon their requests, their applications regarding meeting, telephone calls and medical aid were investigated, and some issues were solved on spot. During the meetings they were also informed about their rights, the requirements of the relevant legislation, and competences of the Ombudsman, legal consultations were provided for them on the relevant issues.

The administration and the staff of the facility, were given recommendation on improvement of custody conditions, healthcare service and documentation and elimination of gaps.

The Ministry of Justice was addressed regarding the outcome of the monitoring and applications of prisoners.