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Azerbaijan: The status and treatment of former Otryad Politsi Osobogo Naznacheniya (OPON) secret police members, including whether OPON continues to exist; whether any former members remain in prison; whether the authorities continue to seek former OPON members who have evaded them (March 1995 to April 2001)

The 17 January 1997 Open Media Research Institute's Daily Digest states "The OPON force was disbanded after the [March 1995] coup attempt, which was allegedly led by Deputy Interior Minister Rovshan Djavadov."

An 18 March 1999 Turan News Agency article states:

Former OPON special purpose police detachment members do not intend to join any political party, including Mahir Javadov's party of the same name, Famil Suleymanov, chairman of the committee to protect the rights of former OPON members, told a press conference today. At the same time, OPON members intend to continue the struggle in defence of their rights. According to Suleymanov's information, (he has been an OPON member since 1990), the body included 940 people, 60 of whom were killed during the Karabakh war and another 200 were wounded. At present, about 450 OPON members are imprisoned. Members of their families are being persecuted, Suleymanov said. He added that OPON members who are at liberty are using all legal measures at their disposal to free their companions from prison.

A 7 July 1999 Khalg Gazeti article states:

A report was published in 'Yeni Musavat' newspaper on 1st July entitled 'OPON special police detachment members are being tortured in prison.' The report covered a press conference held by Rabil Suleymanov, who was presented as the chairman of the committee for the protection of OPON members' right in the resource centre on human rights. The press conference said that convicted OPON members are kept under hard conditions in prisons.

An 8 December 1999 Turan (Azerbaijani news agency) article states:

About 15 members of the committee to protect the rights of OPON members [special purpose police detachment] picketed the Milli Majlis building in connection with the amnesty. The pickets presented journalists with an appeal to the Milli Majlis [parliament] and a statement ... [which] also points out that six OPON members, who are on the wanted list or in custody, have died in unknown circumstances. The authors of the statement maintain that the state of the health of the OPON members is deteriorating. More than 400 OPON employees have been convicted since the events of March 1995. Most of them have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.

A 21 January 2000 article on the Institute for War and Peace Reporting Website contains the following report by Eldar Zeynalov, director of the Human Rights Centre in Baku:

Still haunted by his nightmarish ordeal in an Azeri prison, Elchin Bekhbudov is fighting for rehabilitation. A former officer in the special directorate of the presidential staff, Bekhbudov was arrested in the wake of the failed coup of March 1995. He was one of 37 members of the Special Police Unit (OPON) accused of taking part in a plot staged by Deputy Minister Rovshan Javadov to overthrow the government.

During his interrogation, Bekhbudov claims he was beaten repeatedly and had his legs crushed in a vice. ... But Bekhbudov can consider himself lucky. Freed from jail in March 1996, he has since been campaigning for his case to be re-examined and his tormentors to be brought to justice. Other defendants in the notorious "Case of the 37" are still languishing in Azeri prisons with little hope of an early release.

Until 1996, the victims of police brutality suffered in silence. Prisoners hoped their discretion would help lighten their sentences, while relatives feared official complaints would have an adverse effect on the way the inmates were treated. Deaths in police custody went unpunished. However, the "show trials" of 1996-1997 opened a horrifying can of worms. The Case of the 37 was followed in the summer of 1995 by the so-called "Generals' Conspiracy" – a second attempted state coup which implicated the deputy defence minister and two other generals among others. During both trials, defendants complained that they had been subjected to brutal interrogations during the investigation. Identical torture methods were described by generals, soldiers, journalists and businessmen who had had no previous relationship before the court hearings. Nineteen of the 21 defendants in the Generals' Conspiracy claimed they had been tortured: similar depositions were taken from 25 defendants in the Case of the 37. ...

The allegations described a systematic catalogue of medieval torture methods. ... Forms of moral intimidation included arresting close relatives; raping the suspect's wife or daughter; raping the suspect himself or torturing another prisoner in the suspect's presence. Prisoners were often denied legal counsel, openly libelled in the media and threatened with more serious charges. Attempts to prove the victims' testimonies through the courts have been largely inconclusive. In the Case of the 37, only five of the 25 defendants who reported acts of police brutality were given expert examinations. Of these, three were found to have suffered broken ribs but the judge later dismissed the complaints on the grounds that the injuries could have been sustained by the OPON.

A 10 October 2000 Turan article states:

Seven officers of the former Interior Ministry special purpose police detachment convicted for the events of March 1995 [attempted coup] have died in prison and five have died following their release, the chairman of the committee to protect the OPON officers' rights, Gabil Rzayev, told a press conference today in the human rights resource centre. He said that only 90 OPON officers have been released from prison under various amnesty decrees since 1995. Gabil Rzayev also note that two of 40 missing OPON officers were killed on Russian territory.

A 22 December 2000 Trend News Agency article states:

The Azerbaijani National Committee of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly has sent to the law-enforcement agencies an inquiry requesting an end to the persecution of former OPON special purpose police detachment members. Trend news agency has learnt from the Azerbaijani National Committee of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly that the document described recent cases in which unknown persons disguised as police officers would, without introducing themselves, bring former OPON members, who were pardoned by the Azerbaijani president's decree, to police stations. Once there, they were asked for explanatory statements and various photos would be presented to them for identification. All of the policemen's actions are accompanied by rude and occasionally humiliating behaviour. The inquiry noted that former OPON members were asked to register with the police, while in accordance with legislation such a measure is applied to persons serving a suspended sentence.

No additional information on the treatment of former OPON members in Azerbaijan, nor corroborating information on whether OPON continues to exist or on whether the authorities continues to seek former regular OPON members who have continued to evade them, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, London. 21 January 2000. Eldar Zeynalov. "Azerbaijan's 'Torture Chambers'." <wysiwyg://103/http://iwp0r.vs4.cerb ... chive/cau/cau_200001_15_05_eng.txt> [Accessed 2 Apr. 2001]

Khalg Gazeti [Baku, in Azeri]. 7 July 1999. "Azeri Justice Ministry Says Prison Conditions Have Greatly Improved." (BBC Worldwide Monitoring 7 July 1999/NEXIS)

Open Media Research Institute Daily Digest [Prague]. 17 January 1997. Peter Rutland. "Trial of Police Ends in Baku." <http:www.friends-partners.ru/fr ... tml(opt.mozilla,unix.english,,ice> [Accessed 9 Apr. 2001]

Trend News Agency [Baku, in Russian]. 22 December 2000. "Azeri Rights Group Urges End to 'Persecution' of Former Special Police Members." (NEXIS)

Turan (Baku, in Russian]. 10 October 2000. "Azeri Rights Activist Gives Figures for Deaths, Releases of Coup Plot Officers." (FBIS-SOV-2000-1011 10 Oct. 2000/WNC)

_____. 8 December 1999. "OPON Requests Amnesty, Pardon for Members." (FBIS-SOV-1999-1209 8 Dec. 1999)

_____. 18 March 1999. "Families of Azeri Special Police Force 'Persecuted'." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

NEXIS/LEXIS

Internet sites including:

Azerbaijan on the Internet

Caspian Crossroads

DERECHOS Human Rights

Eurasianet.org

Governments on the Web: Azerbaijan Ministry of Internal Affairs

Hokkaido University Slavic Research Centre

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

MINELRES

Minority Rights Group

Political Resources on the Net: Azerbaijan Parties and Organizations

World News Connection