“Armenian Prisoners of War in Baku Have Become Ghosts for the International Community” – Irene Victoria Massimino
“There is no need to explain what it means to be an Armenian prisoner and be in Baku. The fact that there are Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners in Baku is a direct violation of the November 9 agreement. They are undergoing illegal trials in Baku,” stated international law expert Irene Victoria Massimino (Buenos Aires, Argentina) during a discussion in Yerevan on the topic “Crime Against Peace: Fighting the Crime of Aggression in a Changing World.”
She emphasized that Armenia has returned all prisoners to Azerbaijan, yet Azerbaijan continues to keep Armenian prisoners in jails, where they often become victims of enforced disappearances: “The international community has shown absolute contempt for these systemic issues. All Armenian prisoners who are in Baku are political prisoners. The charges against them are presented for purely political purposes, specifically violating the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh. Four of our volunteers wanted to attend these trials, and we contacted the Azerbaijani embassy; we received no response. They neither confirmed nor rejected our request. We repeated the request after the trials started, but again, we received no answer.”
“Four of our volunteers wanted to attend these trials, and we contacted the Azerbaijani embassy; we received no response. They neither confirmed nor rejected our request. We repeated the request after the trials started, but again, we received no answer.”
– Irene Victoria Massimino
“All norms have been violated in these trials. They are being held behind closed doors, and the purpose of these people being there is to defend the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to self-determination. This is a gross violation of the right to self-determination. There is no transparency, no fairness, no justice in anything that is happening in Baku. The political and military figures are becoming victims of enforced disappearances. Azerbaijan refuses to provide information about these individuals, thus violating the principles of justice and accountability. They do not allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to attend the trials or gain insight into the situation of prisoners in Baku. The Armenian prisoners of war are forgotten, they seem absent from the negotiation table, invisible in international news, and have become ghosts for the international community,” stated Irene Victoria Massimino.
Irene Victoria Massimino
Massimino expressed skepticism about the realism of peace negotiations, arguing that they are merely concessions from the Armenian side: “Azerbaijan is demanding concessions from Armenia, saying ‘change your Constitution, change your emblem,’ and so on. Azerbaijan claims that Armenia is historically part of Azerbaijan, that Armenians never had an identity, and that they are destroying Armenian cultural monuments. They forget that the history of Artsakh spans 4,000 years. I am an Argentine, I know about this, the world knows about it, but no one is saying anything.”
Experts Raise Concerns About the Lack of Independence of Azerbaijan’s Judicial System
During the discussion, experts also raised alarms about the lack of independence in Azerbaijan’s judicial system: “The trials in Baku distort justice and fair trial. Such trials strike at the very core of the judicial system as a creator of justice,” stated Irene Victoria Massimino.
Massimino also expressed concern about how Azerbaijan treats individuals who are involved in human rights defense and pacifism in the country: “All those who have managed to at least escape Azerbaijan are also being attacked in Europe. It is impossible inside Azerbaijan, and difficult outside as well. Right now, Azerbaijan is witnessing a new wave of arrests of peace activists and human rights advocates.”
