The fate of the Armenian prisoners of war and hostages remains unresolved. There is no clear path to a solution. There is none, because they are at the centre of a wider geopolitical conflict and are in the hands of a state that is not seeking justice, but to satisfy its political interests.
Moreover, the treatment of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan is a striking symbol of the extent to which political manipulation can take place in a conflict.
‘It is difficult to talk about the conditions of detention of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan as we get information from limited sources,’ said Arpi Avetisyan – a human rights lawyer- during a panel discussion on “Trials and Detention of Ethnic Armenians” at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at the conference “Human Rights in Azerbaijan”.
Recall that on 18 March Christian Solidarity International (CSI) held an event on the fate of ethnic Armenians unjustly detained by Azerbaijan. Organised jointly with the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), this gathering of prominent human rights defenders highlighted the need for the immediate and unconditional release of these illegally held prisoners – Nagorno-Karabakh’s military and political leaders, prisoners of war and detained Armenian civilians.
Among the panellists were Siranush Sahakyan, a distinguished human rights lawyer who has represented the families of the detainees before the European Court of Human Rights, Leading ICLaw-Center Armenia; Philippe Kalfayan, Lawyer and International Public Affairs Consultant, former Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights; and Arpi Avetisyan, a human rights lawyer specialised in strategic litigation.
Lord David Alton lent his voice to the proceedings through a video message, ardently imploring for the release of the 23 Armenians presently languishing in Azerbaijani custody. This discourse at the United Nations served as a clarion call to the international community, reinforcing the urgency of sustained diplomatic pressure to rectify this gross miscarriage of justice. The complete recording of the event is available for viewing online.
During the discussion on ‘Trial and Detention of Ethnic Armenians’, Arpi Avetisyan stated that no independent body had had the opportunity to visit Armenian prisoners and familiarise themselves with the conditions of their detention. ‘The picture we have is based on information from the International Committee of the Red Cross. The other source of information available is the prisoners’ families. For example, if we look at the conditions of detention of Ruben Vardanyan, while he was on hunger strike, according to information from his family members, he was kept in isolation, no medical examination was carried out and his state of health deteriorated. The photos released document the torture inflicted on him. The Azerbaijani authorities claim that the Azerbaijani human rights defender visited the Armenian prisoners, but we know that this cannot be considered an independent body whose information can be trusted. The visit by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was refused, which is worrying.’
Philippe Kalfayan articulated the sheer travesty of justice manifest in the present circumstances. “These men were once seated at the negotiating table, integral to an internationally sanctioned diplomatic process. And now, they stand accused of terrorism,” he remarked. He contended that their sole transgression was to have embodied the spirit of resistance, seeking to uphold the existence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military invasion that culminated in the mass expulsion of the Armenian Christian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, ending a three-year campaign of ethnic cleansing. This period was marked by two major military offensives and a brutal nine-month blockade that deprived the inhabitants of basic foodstuffs as well as medicine.
Azerbaijan has acknowledged the detention of 23 Armenian men arrested during this operation, among them Ruben Vardanyan, a well-known philanthropist and former Nagorno-Karabakh state minister. Alarmingly, some 80 others, last seen in Azerbaijani custody, are now classified as forcibly disappeared.
Of the 23 known detainees, 16 are currently being subjected to judicial proceedings in Azerbaijan. Siranush Sahakyan elucidated the manifold violations of due process pervading these trials, contending that Azerbaijan’s judiciary is widely regarded as among the most compromised and subservient in the world.
‘There is no conceivable scenario in which a presiding Azeri judge living in an environment of entrenched anti-Armenian sentiment could dispense impartial justice,’ she said.
Arpi Avetisyan further exposed Azerbaijan’s cynical manoeuvre of linking the fate of these prisoners to the political concessions demanded by the Republic of Armenia in the ongoing peace talks. ‘In essence, they are all hostages,’ she stated.
Arpi Avetisyan said that the Armenian prisoners were political prisoners who were being used by the Baku authorities. ‘Unfortunately, we see that negotiations are dragging on and no solution has been found. These people are instruments in the hands of the Baku authorities.’
The event organised by the CSI at the United Nations in Geneva took place against a backdrop of increasing calls for the immediate release of those illegally detained – Nagorno-Karabakh’s military and political leaders, prisoners of war and captured civilians. On 3 March, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk unequivocally stated that ‘all those arbitrarily detained in Azerbaijan, including ethnic Armenians, must be released immediately and their fundamental rights to a fair trial must be scrupulously respected’.
In a significant diplomatic overture, the United States National Security Advisor, Michael Waltz, disclosed that he had directly impressed upon Hikmet Hajiyev, a senior Azerbaijani official, the necessity of liberating the captives.
Despite the international community’s increasingly urgent appeals in defence of the Artsakh Armenians, the Azerbaijani authorities, for their part, considered the issue resolved; from the point of view of the Azerbaijani authorities, there is no need even for the functioning of a local branch of the Red Cross Committee. The Government of Azerbaijan considers that the reasons that previously required the ICRC to operate directly in Azerbaijan do not exist. The Azerbaijan News Agency ARA “recalls” that in the past there have been certain problems between Azerbaijan and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Thus, in the early 2020s, the ICRC opened an office in Stepanakert without ‘notifying the Azerbaijani authorities’. Baku also accused the humanitarian organisation of ‘smuggling’, in particular, of ‘using ambulances intended for evacuation of people to transport smuggled goods’. Once a month ICRC staff visit the captives, communicate with them and give them the opportunity to contact their families.
As for the UN, Baku is reconsidering priorities of cooperation with the organisation taking into account new realities, Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov said recently. Such realities, he called the victory in the second Karabakh war with Armenia in 2020 and the fact that the country can now take care of itself and even be a donor. ‘Partnership with some UN agencies will be continued through the mechanism of project co-operation in accordance with national priorities,’ Bayramov clarified. Then, already citing their own sources, a number of Azerbaijani media reported that official Baku wants to close four UN offices in Azerbaijan: the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Earlier, the authorities stopped the BBC and other foreign media from operating on their territory. The 2020 resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called Azerbaijan ‘one of the most hostile countries for journalists’. This happened three years before the mass arrests of journalists and the closure of entire editorial offices in Azerbaijan, and in 2024 the Assembly suspended the work of the Azerbaijani delegation for human rights violations. However, propagandists in Azerbaijan were only happy about this, announcing that the country would now be able to pursue a more independent policy.
While prisoners of war are being subjected to unimaginable torture, the international community must not lose sight of the fact that this is the use of human life as an instrument of state policy. This is not only a moral scandal, but also a flagrant violation of international law and the principles of human dignity. The question therefore arises as to whether it is possible to obtain justice for the political-military leaders of Artsakh, the Armenian prisoners of war and the captured civilians, and to what extent the international community will be prepared to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions.
Main source: csi-int.org