In its annual report on human rights world-wide that was released on 28 February, The U.S. State Department registered a worsening of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan in 2004 following the disputed presidential ballot in October 2003. The State Department\'s annual report noted that Azerbaijani police failed to investigate four deaths in police custody and numerous complaints of torture and ill-treatment in detention. It said that the judiciary in Azerbaijan remains \"corrupt and inefficient\" and is strongly influenced by the executive, which generally fails to observe the constitutional prohibition on arbitrary arrest and detention. The report further criticized police harassment of members of religious minorities and restrictions on media freedom, including the government\'s failure to act on its pledge to create a public television channel. Finally, the report noted that the number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan now exceeds 100, and it expressed concern at pressure on ethnic Armenians to emigrate. (Turan)