Rights defender Elchin Bekhbudov dies in Azerbaijan

Elchin Bekhbudov, the head of the Azerbaijani Committee against Torture (CaT) has died at the age of 55. He was engaged in monitoring places of detention and annually informed the public on cases of torture.

Elchin Bekhbudov died this night of a heart attack, his relative told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that Elchin suffered from diabetes; and in recent days his health condition had sharply deteriorated; and he was hospitalized.

Being the head of the CaT, Elchin Bekhbudov held regular monitoring of detention facilities, but in recent years the authorities have restricted his access there. Every year, Bekhbudov informed the public about facts of torture in places of detention, as well as in the army and children boarding schools.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that according to the latest annual report of the Azerbaijani CaT, in 2014 the committee received 112 complaints about torture and inhuman treatment; four of them had to do with detainees' deaths.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.