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The number of prisoners exceeds the Council of Europe average of 149 prisoners per 100 000 inhabitants by more than double in Azerbaijan, the draft resolution of the PACE committee of Legal Affairs reads. According to the project Georgia, Latvia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine show the same result.

“In a draft resolution adopted today on promoting alternatives to imprisonment, the Legal Affairs Committee says that prison overcrowding is unacceptable and is liable to result in higher rates of reoffending,” the PACE site says.

In view of the high costs of constructing and maintaining new prisons, the Committee recommends concentrating scarce budgetary funds on improving detention conditions in existing prisons rather than expanding prison capacity.

To reduce Europe’s prison population, it invites the member states, particularly those with the highest rates of imprisonment, to promote the use of non-custodial sentences, especially for first-time and non-violent offenders, young offenders and women.
It also points out that recent advances in technology allowing for new methods of electronic surveillance have made these alternatives more cost-effective.

According to the draft resolution, 21 countries have the problem overcrowded prisons. Armenia is not included in the list.