Representative of the interests of Armenian prisoners of war at the ECHR, Siranush Sahakyan, believes that Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijani prisons are being tortured and are being tried on sham, fabricated charges.
During the meeting-discussion held on April 10, Siranush Sahakyan touched upon the issue of Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku prisons in detail.
Indeed, the release of POWs held in Azerbaijan is a priority, as society addresses this issue, but before the release of our compatriots, the Armenian side must coerce Azerbaijan to provide humane conditions and respect human rights, creating an environment that cannot lead to human casualties.
“Meanwhile, our compatriots held captive in Baku have always been and are still under real threats to their lives. We have recorded cases when people were killed during captivity.
About 80 Armenians were subjected to enforced disappearances. There are human destinies that are still unknown, which is also considered in the context of the Armenophobia displayed by Azerbaijan,” Sahakyan said.
According to the international law expert, during the entire period of the trials, no independent external body for the prevention of torture was provided with an opportunity to enter the prisons and visit the Armenians to objectively examine the conditions of their detention, their physical or psychological state.
“The only structure the activities of which have already come under threat at this time is the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC representatives visit the Armenian prisoners once every six weeks, although the specified period is periodically subjected to arbitrary changes and delays by the Azerbaijani authorities. Azerbaijan uses any pretext to postpone the previously planned visits. Although the protocols of the International Committee of the Red Cross are not subject to publication and only fragmentary information is available to the family members of the prisoners, nevertheless, representatives of the international structure hope that the problems they have recorded will receive an appropriate solution. Meanwhile, no progress is observed regarding the physical and psychological condition of the detained persons, elimination of violence, or practices that insult and humiliate the dignity of Armenians,” she noted.
Moreover, amidst some developments, an intensification of repression is observed. Armenians continue to endure inhumane conditions and are subjected to treatment that can be classified as torture, given the severity of the treatment and the degree of pain it causes.
Sahakyan added that the involvement of independent lawyers and doctors is also considered a legitimate mechanism for preventing torture. However, they have never been allowed to visit any Armenians. Only Azerbaijani lawyers, who are licensed solely in Azerbaijan, are allegedly protecting the interests of Armenians. In reality, these lawyers are dependent on the local authorities and have exclusively taken advantage of this opportunity.
“We have personally applied, presenting our powers and their recognition by the European Court, and requested the opportunity to meet with our compatriots, but this request has been denied. Similar attempts have also been made with the involvement of foreign lawyers, but Azerbaijan has a practice of blocking the entry of international lawyers, which is evidence of a complete lack of impartiality. The Azerbaijani side fears that during these visits, cases of torture will be uncovered and new evidence will be generated, which in no way aligns with Azerbaijan’s interests,” said Sahakyan.
She reminded that the Armenian captives have also been deprived of the opportunity to receive consular services. If the Republic of Armenia finds a mechanism and the Azerbaijani authorities do not provide this guarantee, then we will also have another violation of the right to a fair trial here. Although the absence of diplomatic relations has deprived the Republic of Armenia of the right to carry out consular visits, in such a situation, as international practice has shown, such functions can be carried out through an intermediary third country, when this right is delegated to another consular service accredited in the given country. This could be achieved through diplomatic steps, especially since the issue has gained new relevance against the background of discussions in Baku on terminating the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“A group of NGOs has officially appealed to the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swiss government to delegate consular rights to the authorities of that country and for the latter to assume the role of a neutral country and ensure visits to Armenian prisoners. The [Armenian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that this issue is under discussion, but, taking into account its confidential nature, they cannot disclose any other details. It remains to wait and see when the final decision will be made,” Sahakyan noted.
According to the human rights activist, another important mechanism that theoretically exists and could be very useful in assessing the conditions of Armenian hostages and recording violations of rights is the Moscow Mechanism operating under the auspices of the OSCE, which allows organizing a short-term fact-finding mission on the situation of human rights violations by creating an expert group within the OSCE framework, whose members are called rapporteurs and collect relevant data. Their reports are subject to discussion within the OSCE framework.
As a rule, this requires the consent of ten member states of the structure. In case of their support, this mechanism will be automatically introduced. Currently, there is an initiative aimed at the implementation of the aforementioned mechanism, which should be supported in every way, because the issue of the release of prisoners also requires active and direct diplomatic work. After the end of the conflict, international conventions envisage the repatriation of prisoners; therefore, Azerbaijan is under legal obligations to release Armenian prisoners without any preconditions. We must strive to achieve our goal by combining diplomatic and legal efforts, because peace and the return of prisoners are directly interrelated,” she said.
Azerbaijan officially confirms the presence of 23 Armenian prisoners of war in its territory. Some of them, including representatives of the former military-political leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh, have been falsely prosecuted in Baku, and fabricated trials are being held.
Baku aims to downplay the legal aspect of the captives’ issue – International law expert
International law specialist Taron Simonyan believes that the issue of the release of Armenian prisoners of war is a priority for Armenia, as Azerbaijan seeks to minimize the legal component of the issue in every possible way to weaken Armenia’s position.
“Everyone is aware that Armenia is strong in the legal field and can effectively protect its interests. Realizing this, Azerbaijan is pursuing two strategies during the sham trials, which are part of a broader effort to use the Azerbaijani factor against Armenian interests. One of these strategies is domestic, meaning the trials serve the interests of Azerbaijan’s ruling elite and thereby strengthen its position.
This is presented as a ‘Nuremberg Trial,’ but in reality, the process concerns an entirely different issue. In fact, the state that committed genocide and war crimes is conducting a trial against its victims,” Simonyan said.
He noted that the second strategy involves targeting the Armenian identity, the Armenian people, and Nagorno-Karabakh through the trials. In other words, Azerbaijan aims to achieve multiple objectives with a single legal process, following a comprehensive strategy with small tactical steps.
“The theme that our compatriots joined a criminal organization, with the Republic of Artsakh being considered such an organization, runs throughout the indictment presented by Baku. Even basic legal knowledge is enough to see, with the naked eye, that the charges against our compatriots are fabricated.
There is no cause-and-effect relationship in the testimonies of any witness; even the most elementary legal logic has been disregarded. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan is targeting Artsakh in this manner and wants to eliminate its existence by any means, seeking to legally solidify what they have already done on the ground,” the international law specialist noted.
Simonyan also pointed out that the OSCE has become a target for Azerbaijan, as the Minsk Group, based on UN Security Council resolutions, was established to resolve the Artsakh issue.
“Azerbaijan is trying to lay the groundwork for future legal proceedings against Armenia through trumped-up trials. One of the ultimate goals of this process is to shift the burden of responsibility onto Armenia, arguing that if the NKR does not exist, then the Republic of Armenia must bear full responsibility.
“The Azerbaijani side will attempt to initiate further political processes against Armenia, presenting additional demands. Baku will try to find conventions that would allow them to bring the facts allegedly established in domestic trials to international forums, burdening Armenia with additional demands—even though no such legal mechanisms exist, either in theory or practice,” Simonyan said.