Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 11 May (HL8207), what representations they have made about the conditions under which political prisoners are held in Azerbaijan, particularly in the light of the reported assault of Ilgar Mammadov by prison guards in October 2015, and the June 2016 judgment by the European Court of Human Rights that the Azerbaijani authorities failed to provide adequate medical care to Leila and Arif Yunus during their imprisonment on political grounds.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK raises concerns about the conditions under which political prisoners are held in Azerbaijan at every appropriate opportunity. Our Embassy in Baku has requested to visit a number of prisoners, but the authorities have not yet granted permission. In the Council of Europe, we regularly call for more information on Ilgar Mammadov’s condition.