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INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAKU 001037 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PINS SOCI AJ
SUBJECT: VISIT TO ONE OF AZERBAIJAN'S MOST NOTORIOUS 
PRISONS:  GOBUSTAN PRISON ONE 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  An OSCE-led delegation visited Gobustan 
Prison One - notorious for abuses, mysterious deaths, and 
restive inmates -- to assess conditions and meet with 
prisoners.  The delegation met with Elchin Amiraslanov, Arif 
Kazimov, and Safa Poladov, three individuals determined to be 
political prisoners from the Council of Europe's 2001 list. 
While these inmates had complaints about food and medical 
treatment, they appeared to be better off than most other 
prisoners.  Although several prisoners showed visible signs 
of neglect, the facility was overall in better condition than 
expected.  We view the Ministry of Justice's decision to 
allow the delegation access to the prison as a positive step. 
 END SUMMARY 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Gobustan Prison One is widely considered to be among 
Azerbaijan's most notorious prisons, with reports from human 
rights activists that inmates are subjected to physical and 
psychological violence.  It is perhaps most well known for a 
1999 prison riot/mutiny, in which eleven inmates and two 
prison guards were killed after a group of approximately 30 
inmates took 28 hostages (two of whom are reported to have 
been killed) and demanded safe passage out of the country. 
The prison is also known for a high number of alleged 
suicides and murders.  In 2006, three inmates were found 
hanged, which the GOAJ reported as suicides.  One prisoner 
was reported to have committed suicide, but according to the 
press, another inmate sent a letter to the deceased's family 
claiming that the man had been beaten to death by prison 
guards.  Two inmates died in their cells under mysterious 
circumstances - one blamed on a fire started by a cigarette, 
another on heart failure.  In March, one inmate was murdered 
by his two cellmates; another was murdered by his cellmate on 
August 12.  On August 16, five inmates attempted suicide but 
were discovered by prison guards before they died. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In an article published by the Institute for War and 
Peace Reporting entitled "Azerbaijan:  Spotlight on Horror 
Jail" with the by-line "Mysterious deaths mount in high 
security prison," Sahib Mamedov, head of the Citizens Labor 
Rights Protection League, said "Violations of law and 
mistreatment of prisoners happen in other jails, too.  But 
suicides of prisoners and murders by jailers are particularly 
frequent in the Gobustan prison."  In the same article, 
former prisoner Polad Gajiev is quoted as saying "After 
visits by commissions, jailers beat prisoners, who have 
complained to representatives of human rights organizations, 
within an inch of their lives.  That is why, however 
intolerable the prison life, most prisoners dare not complain 
to anyone." 
 
OVERVIEW BY THE FACILITY'S GOVERNOR 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Poloff took part in an OSCE-led visit to Gobustan's 
Prison One to assess prison conditions and meet with high 
profile prisoners.  Participants included OSCE Baku's Legal 
Advisor; diplomats from the British, French, German, and 
Norwegian Embassies; the Council of Europe Special 
Representative; and ABA-CEELI's Criminal Law Liaison. 
Alizade Huseynov, the facility's current governor, briefed 
the delegation upon arrival.  According to Huseynov, the 
facility can hold a maximum of 650 prisoners, and on the day 
of the visit, there were a total of 649.  He explained that 
three categories of prisoners were incarcerated at Prison 
One:  prisoners serving life sentences, prisoners who had 
misbehaved at other facilities, and prisoners who had 
committed serious crimes and were ordered by the court to 
serve a portion of their sentence at this facility.  In 
addition, a maximum of 56 spaces were reserved for prisoners 
who had committed less serious crimes and were fulfilling 
their sentences by working as prison employees.  As of May 
31, the prison was housing 207 lifers and 331 who had been 
sent from other facilities; 48 prisoners were working as 
employees. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Huseynov reviewed the prison's procedures, 
explaining that each category of prisoners is divided into 
different wings.  He said that lifers are held in one or 
two-person cells, while other inmates live in eight to 
ten-person cells.  According to Huseynov, each prisoner 
receives three hot meals per day, including one meat dish 
each day.  Huseynov said that he and one of the doctors 
sample the dishes before they are served to the inmates. 
Prisoners are entitled to one hour of outdoor exercise daily, 
and Huseynov said, depending on their classification, can 
 
BAKU 00001037  002 OF 003 
 
 
receive visitors and packages, and make phone calls.  He said 
that inmates may meet with their lawyers any time during 
working hours (09:00 to 18:00).  Huseynov said that five 
doctors ork in the medical unit, and they check on each 
risoner in their assigned wings each day. 
 
¶6. (SU) The facility has a small prayer room, which Husenov 
said that all prisoners are allowed to use, lthough many 
prefer to pray in their cells.  According to Huseynov, 
inmates have unlimited access to the prison's library, which 
has books in Russian and Azerbaijani, including one shelf of 
legal reference materials, and a small selection of 
pro-government newspapers.  He said that inmates are allowed 
to check out as many books as they like to read in their 
cells.  Huseynov said that prisoners are allowed to subscribe 
to any newspaper they like, although most do not have money 
to do so.  Many inmates have radios, and are permitted to 
listen to programs at their discretion.  This facility, like 
all others in Azerbaijan, does not have television or 
computers for inmates to use.  However, Huseynov pointed out, 
in the fall, Parliament may consider a draft law proposing 
that prisons be equipped with televisions. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In response to questions regarding allegations of 
human rights abuses at the prison, Huseynov said that since 
he has been in charge, no guard has beaten or tortured any 
prisoner.  (NOTE:  Huseynov's predecessor, Sadagat Agayev, 
was dismissed in November 2006 on accusations of abuse of 
power.)  According to Huseynov, there have been two major 
hunger strikes since he took over; both were carried out by 
inmates serving life sentences.  Huseynov explained that in 
1998, Azerbaijani law had been changed so that the death 
penalty would no longer be used.  At that point, most 
individuals who had previously been sentenced to death were 
granted life sentences, although some appealed the prior 
ruling and received 15-year sentences instead.  The hunger 
strikes were carried out by the group of lifers in protest to 
their sentences; they believe that they, too should have been 
given 15-year sentences once the law was changed.  (NOTE:  A 
large group of inmates serving life sentences carried out 
another hunger strike in June, and appealed, unsuccessfully, 
to the Supreme Court to reduce their sentences.) 
 
VISITS WITH PRISONERS 
--------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The three remaining political prisoners from the 
Council of Europe's (COE's) 2001 list, Elchin Amiraslanov, 
Arif Kazimov, and Safa Poladov, are incarcerated at Gobustan 
Prison One.  These men were convicted and sentenced to death 
on charges of participating in mutinies within special police 
units in March 1995; participating in an attempted coup plot 
(involving a total of 30 participants); and attempting to 
assassinate five prominent figures in Gazakh, an Azerbaijani 
city near the Georgian border, in October 1996.  Although 
these men were retried in 2004 (with court rulings upholding 
the life-sentence verdicts), the Parliamentary Assembly of 
the COE (PACE) declared that these trials, like those of many 
others on the 2001 list, did not meet COE standards.  PACE 
continues to call upon the GOAJ to release these individuals. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Half of the delegation, including Poloff, visited 
Arif Kazimov and Safa Poladov in their shared cell.  Although 
the group was allowed to enter the cell and have a lengthy 
conversation with the inmates, prison guards lingered nearby 
the open door, where they could overhear the discussion.  The 
cell was small and cluttered, but had recently been cleaned 
and reeked of ammonia.  Kazimov and Poladov complained about 
prison food, noting specifically that prison bread causes 
mouth sores, and explained that they no longer eat food from 
the prison cafeteria, but are sustained by food brought in by 
family members.  They had serious issues with the prison's 
medical care; one had undergone surgery on his head and the 
other on his stomach while in the prison rather than being 
transferred to a hospital. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Kazimov and Poladov complained about the small area 
designated for the daily hour of exercise inmates are 
allowed.  They said that because of the intense heat from 
direct sunlight in that area, for the past year and a half, 
they have refused to exercise.  Although one complained of 
having been beaten once by a prison guard, both claimed that, 
in the past, they had received privileged treatment but now 
"are treated like the others."  Kazimov and Poladov turned to 
their legal cases, noting their anger with the treatment they 
have received from human rights activists.  They claim that 
certain activists said they would raise their cases with the 
GOAJ for a fee of $20,000, but refused to name these 
individuals. 
 
 
BAKU 00001037  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) The other half of the delegation visited Elchin 
Amiraslanov (determined by COE to be a political prisoner) 
and Ali Guliyev (not a political prisoner, but a high-profile 
lifer convicted of multiple homicides).  A local staff member 
from the Council of Europe later told Poloff that Amiraslanov 
and Guliyev had few complaints about their treatment while in 
detention, and focused instead on the court decisions that 
upheld their verdicts.  Amiraslanov told the group that he 
was able to receive medication sent from Germany with no 
problems.  Guliyev mentioned that he has not been given 
access to newspapers that he would like to read. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Poloff's half of the delegation visited a few 
random cells to assess the conditions of average prisoners. 
Although the group was only able to get a quick glimpse of 
the cells (from the outside) and speak briefly with the 
inmates in the immediate vicinity of the prison guards, it 
was clear that life for the average prisoner is much more 
difficult than that of the high-profile prisoners.  One man's 
skin was covered in a rash, and his wrist and lower arm were 
bandaged due to self-inflicted cutting (which he showed the 
group).  The prison guards seemed embarrassed and assured the 
delegation that this prisoner would be transferred 
immediately to a hospital.  Another man, who appeared to have 
a mental disability, complained that he has not received his 
invalid pension since imprisonment.  Upon departure, inmates 
began shouting and pounding on their cell doors in an attempt 
to get the group's detention.  The commotion spread quickly, 
and one disgruntled prison guard shouted angrily:  "I don't 
care if I get fired - I have been working here for years and 
now have to deal with this because you visited!" 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) We view the Ministry of Justice's decision to grant 
the OSCE-led delegation access to the prison - and the 
cooperative behavior of the facility's governor - as a 
positive step.  Although the facility clearly had been 
cleaned thoroughly prior to the delegation's arrival, in 
general, the facility itself was better than expected.  The 
prisoners' treatment, however, is another question, and from 
the glimpse we got during our visit and reports from human 
rights activists, it would appear that prison guards are not 
the model citizens portrayed during our visit.  Life for the 
average inmate is likely quite difficult, but because it is 
impossible to meet with these inmates without eavesdroppers 
lingering nearby (and the understood threat of 
repercussions), we may never know the full story.  The OSCE 
plans to lead periodic delegations to visit more of 
Azerbaijan's prisons; we will participate and continue to 
report on prison conditions. 
DERSE