Azerbaijan responsible for prisoner’s death – judgment highlights again impunity of law enforcement regarding use of excessive force

Content warning: ill-treatment and death in prison  

On 17 October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that the beating, by guards, of an inmate in an Azerbaijani prison violated the prohibition of ill-treatment and torture under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). His subsequent death in custody was a breach of his right to life. 

The judgment, in Babayeva v Azerbaijan, concerns the death in December 2014 of the applicant’s brother, E.B..  Having been prevented from visiting a fellow inmate in the prison’s medical unit, E.B. is said to have reacted angrily. He was handcuffed by prison guards and brought before the prison governor. A further outburst in the governor’s office resulted in E.B. being severely beaten by prison guards using rubber truncheons. The governor then ordered E.B. to be placed in a punishment cell for fifteen days. 

A medical examination on the same day revealed multiple injuries to E.B.’s body. Nine days after his beating, E.B. was found dead on the floor of the punishment cell. 

The Azerbaijani authorities have consistently denied that E.B.’s beating and subsequent treatment were a factor in his death. E.B., who was 30 at the time and had no underlying health conditions, had, they said, died of acute heart failure. 

The subsequent criminal investigation, by the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office, was marred by repeated delays before being wound up in August 2015. The applicant’s requests for information were rejected and her complaint about the termination of the investigation was rejected by a domestic court in Azerbaijan. The authorities argued that E.B.’s beating was a reasonable response to his breach of disciplinary rules and, as a result, denied his sister victim status. 

The case was brought to the ECtHR by the victim’s sister and litigated by EHRAC and Azerbaijani partner lawyers. 

‘Sadly, the ill-treatment and torture of detainees in Azerbaijan remains widespread. This case provides another tragic example of the price, for victims and their families, of what is a systemic practice sustained by a climate of impunity. 

‘We hope this judgment and its supervision by the Committee of Ministers will create space to engage the Azerbaijani authorities on these matters. EHRAC will work with our partners to press for the full implementation of this judgment.’ 

Ramute Remezaite, Senior Legal Consultant and Implementation Lead, EHRAC

The judgment 

The ECtHR found that E.B.’s multiple injuries suggested ill-treatment sufficient to trigger Article 3 of the ECHR and noted again that a victim’s behaviour cannot be used as justification for such treatment. 

‘(T)he Court reiterates that the protection against ill-treatment is absolute… and that the use of force by State officials is allowed only where it is strictly necessary in the given circumstances… The Court cannot accept that the heavy use of rubber truncheons on E.B. could be considered as a proportionate response to a mere breach of disciplinary rules…’ 

The ECtHR concluded that, regardless of the role these injuries played in his death, by ‘leaving E.B. in a punishment cell in the absence of sufficient and appropriate monitoring or supervision, the authorities put his health and life in danger’, finding Azerbaijan responsible for his death, in violation of its obligation under Article 2 of the ECHR (the Right to life).  

The ECtHR also criticised the Azerbaijani authorities’ failure to gather available evidence and to adequately investigate E.B.’s ill treatment and death, finding violations of the procedural as well as the substantive elements of Articles 2 and 3 ECHR. 

The widespread use by Azerbaijani law enforcement of excessive, punitive force is well-documented. In 2017, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) said that its ‘overall impression (was) that (the use of) torture and other forms of physical ill-treatment by the police and other law enforcement agencies, corruption in the whole law enforcement system… and impunity remain systemic and endemic.’ In July 2024, it raised concerns of a ‘persistent lack of cooperation by the Azerbaijani authorities with the CPT’ to address these issues.