On the 27th of April, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel General Ramil Usubov received European Parliament Permanent Rapporteur on Azerbaijan Norica Nicolai who arrived on an official visit to our country.
Having welcomed the guest, the Minister mentioned the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed in 1996 which formed the legal framework of the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union, development of new laws to regulate police activities with the participation of international experts at that period and making protection and enforcement of human rights and freedoms the priority area of activities within police service in accordance with these instruments. It was also brought to the guest’s attention that for the purpose of implementation of the laws including the improvement of the police personnel professional competence and in general carrying out of police activities in accordance with international standards, about 10 thousand police officers took part in training, seminars, conferences and forums conducted with the support of the UNO, Council of Europe, European Union, OSCE and other international organizations. It was noted that for the purpose of holding of fair and transparent elections including providing all citizens who have the voting right with ID cards as well as preventing police interference in the process of elections it was explained to police officers during special training that their duties only consist in protecting peace and order and creating conditions necessary for people to freely express their will, and police officers ensured absolute security during meetings of candidates and voters and other mass events in the pre-election period.
It was also mentioned that it is the principle of human factor that underlies operations of the 102 Service and Safe City System launched in the republic to provide prompt measures against any illegal acts in respect of citizens and continuous and live monitoring of public tranquil. Over 20 thousand illegal acts were prevented and about 1400 crimes were solved without delay owing to quick response measures taken on an average of more than 250 thousand messages received by the 102 Service as well as in the result of installation of over 110 thousand surveillance cameras of the Safe City System.
The Minister noted that the special department was established within the Ministry to organize and execute intradepartmental control of police activities including identification of circumstances conducive to corruption and employees committing corruption offences and taking appropriate measures against them.
Ramil Usubov told that over the past five years, 317 officers were punished due to 203 facts detected in connection with corruption offences. 205 of them were dismissed, 85 officers were removed from their posts, and other disciplinary actions were applied to 27 persons.
The Minister noted that all necessary works were carried out to improve conditions in temporary detention facilities in accordance with the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and added that there are 72 TDFs of the MIA in the republic, and all of them are fitted with state-of-the-art alarm system, video surveillance and other equipment. 1359 monitoring surveys were conducted in temporary detention facilities over recent 5 years, and various disciplinary actions were instituted against 329 employees for violations committed on service.
It was brought to the guest’s attention that no facts of torture and degrading treatment were detected during the conducted investigations. Over the past 5 years 1797 persons were punished for 1378 facts of harsh treatment of citizens; 4 of them were charged with criminal offences; 170 persons were dismissed from internal affairs agencies; 161 persons were discharged from their posts; 10 persons were down-graded; other disciplinary actions were taken in respect of 1452 persons.  
Touching upon existing challenges, the Minister emphasized that the primary focus in the country is always on the prevention of severe types of transnational organized crime like illegal drug trafficking, international terrorism, trafficking in human beings and illegal migration.
Having expressed gratitude for hearty reception and detailed information, Mrs Norica Nicolai emphasized that the European Parliament attaches great importance to the bilateral relations with Azerbaijan and will use best efforts to further strengthen this cooperation.
The parties also discussed a number of other issues in a businesslike atmosphere of the meeting. Answers were given to the questions put by the European Parliament Permanent Rapporteur on Azerbaijan.