Trial Date Set for Armenian Hostages Held in Baku
As the victims of the 1990 January 13 state-sponsored pogroms[1] in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, are being commemorated, a news item in an Azerbaijani outlet reports that the trial of fifteen Armenian hostages[2] —POWs and political prisoners— held in Baku is scheduled for 17 January 2025.[3] Another news item a few days later says that the trial date for Ruben Vardanyan[4] —Armenian philanthropist, co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, father, and former State Minister of the Artsakh Republic— is also set for 17 January 2025.[5] Both news items report that the trial —or trials— will be held at the Baku Military Court, at the following address: Baku, Surakhani District, Govsan Settlement, Highway 3, 8th Kilometer, 10L., Baku, Azerbaijan. The cases will be heard before one or more of Judges Zeynal Agayev, Jamal Ramazanov, and Anar Rzayev.[6]
Background
The sixteen Armenians —including eight current and former officials of the Artsakh Republic— were arrested, abducted, and kidnapped in September and October 2023, during Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh),[7] which the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) qualifies as “forced removal of ethnic Armenians […] through siege and bombing as ethnic cleansing and the crime against humanity of deportation or forcible transfer of population (forced displacement).”[8] The IAGS “Declares the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh from December 2022 to September 2023, including the closure of the Lachin Corridor, was characteristic of actions considered imposing conditions of life designed to bring about the physical destruction of the ethnic Armenians in the territory and caused serious mental and bodily harm to the Armenians in the territory, which are recognized as genocidal crimes under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”[9]
As civil society has documented, “the Azerbaijani leader and various authorities are quite explicit in [their] intent to cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenians.”[10] Indeed, “Aliyev . . . has persistently repeated his goals of eliminating any Armenian presence from [Nagorno-Karabakh].”[11] For example, on 23 July 2021, Aliyev stated in an interview that Armenians have “no historical basis for living” in Nagorno-Karabakh,[12] and he has frequently referred to the region as “ancient” Azerbaijani land.[13] A related strategy is Azerbaijan’s erasure of all traces of Armenian culture. Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian churches, graveyards, and other historic sites is well documented, including the “systematic, state-sponsored program of cultural erasure” it perpetrated in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic between 1997 and 2011.[14] Using satellite imagery, Caucasus Heritage Watch has also documented the more recent destruction of and damage to numerous historic Armenian sites in Nagorno-Karabakh specifically,[15] including after the ICJ’s December 7, 2021, order requiring Azerbaijan to “prevent […] acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage.”[16]
International Partnership for Human Rights, Freedom House, Democracy Development Foundation, and partners found that Azerbaijani authorities engaged in ethnic cleansing against the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a report released from an international fact-finding mission composed of Freedom House and a coalition of six other partners.[17]
The state-run newspaper Musavat reported that Ruben Vardanyan has been charged with 44 alleged violations of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. In the other 15 cases, Musavat also reported that defendants have been charged with an extraordinary alleged 2,548 violations of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.[18] If convicted, they all face life in prison.
Major Violations of International Law
A. Substantive Violations
The definition of a political prisoner is a person who is detained for who they are or what they believe in is a violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms. In the cases of the eight political prisoners, they all served the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh in leadership roles. The charges against them are pretextual and they have been targeted for their outspoken advocacy for the right to self-determination and self-governance of their people in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Reaffirming the political nature of the charges, Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev announced “[a] single investigative team has been established . . . regarding [the] separatists detained in the [Nagorno] Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.”[19] He further explained that he has opened criminal investigations into 300 former officials of Nagorno-Karabakh.[20] This approach is driven by a transparent political agenda that the very existence of the Republic was illegal and illegitimate. It also demonstrates that now that Baku has liquidated the ethnic Armenian population from the territory, anyone who ever held a significant role in its former Government is presumed guilty of crimes against Azerbaijan. Importantly, it is worth noting the Defense Army of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic had some 5,500 personnel when it was dissolved in September 2023, as compared to 65,000 active, 300,000 reserve, and 15,000 paramilitary personnel of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.[21] Yet Azerbaijan’s approach to prosecuting the eight political prisoners shows that regardless of the insignificance of the Artsakh Republic’s former Defense Army, it intends to use its existence as a pretext to prosecute its former leaders as war criminals and terrorists under Azerbaijani law in the Baku Military Court.
B. Procedural Violations
Even before these trials have begun, systematic and egregious violations of these defendants’ rights to due process of law under Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have already occurred.
First, in the case of Ruben Vardanyan, for example, a week before what is expected to be a secret and closed trial, his counsel was only recently allowed to view the indictment in person at the courthouse, with no copy made available. Although the case consists of the asserted 422 volumes of “evidence” against him, only six volumes contain evidence related to him. Ruben has not had ample time to review the volumes, as they were only made available to him in Russian, a language he understands, one week before the trial. Previously, the volumes provided were exclusively in Azerbaijani. His counsel was only recently provided a list of witnesses that might testify against him, included in the indictment made available one week before the trial date. Azerbaijani authorities have justified these decisions by claiming his case involves state secrets. Previously, Azerbaijani authorities denied Ruben his right to consult with his international counsel, Jared Genser, who was not permitted to travel to Azerbaijan and consult with him. In addition, Ruben has been declared guilty by Aliyev, other senior officials, and the state-run media. In January 2024, responding to a question about Ruben and other detained leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliyev replied, “The criminals who waged a bloody war against us, committed vandalism, perpetrated the Khojaly genocide, destroyed our lands, cities, and villages have been arrested, detained and will be brought to justice soon. Among them are all the former leaders of [Nagorno-]Karabakh, the so-called prime minister [Ruben Vardanyan] who was imported to Karabakh, and others.”[22] Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev commented that Ruben and the other detainees “were engaged in separatism, operating illegally on the territory of Azerbaijan.”[23] And state-run media have reported on Ruben’s “illegal acts.”[24] Ruben has also been held in extended pre-trial detention for almost a year-and-a-half and repeatedly denied bail. The other political prisoners have also been subjected to similar violations of their due process rights.
Second, Ruben and the former Presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh are being tried before the Baku Military Court and not in a civilian court. Yet the administration of justice through military tribunals has raised serious concerns regarding “access to justice […] the independence and impartiality of military tribunals, and respect for the fair trial rights of the accused.”[25] According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, the jurisprudence of international law shows that there is “a strong trend against extending the criminal jurisdiction of military tribunals over civilians”[26] and that the jurisdiction of military tribunals should be restricted to offenses of a “strictly military nature committed by military personnel.”[27] These concerns were previously identified by the UN Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, who elaborated a set of principles aimed at establishing a system of universally applicable rules to regulate military justice.[28] Specifically, Principle No. 5 states: “Military courts should, in principle, have no jurisdiction to try civilians. In all circumstances, the State shall ensure that civilians accused of criminal offences of any nature are tried by civilian courts.”[29]
And third, even if these defendants were being tried in civilian courts, there would be serious concerns about the lack of independence and impartiality of the judicial system in Azerbaijan. According to Freedom House, the Executive Branch has a “complete grip” over the judiciary and has “eliminated any meaningful checks and balances among the three branches of government.”[30] Amnesty International has called on Azerbaijani officials to “end their campaign against the independent judiciary.”[31] The U.S. Department of State previously noted: “Credible reports indicated that judges and prosecutors took instructions from the Presidential Administration and the Justice Ministry, particularly in politically sensitive cases.”[32] And it is further observed there are often wider and more egregious due process abuses in cases as well (See below).
International Calls to Release the Armenian Hostages
A group of 150 global leaders[33], Nobel Prize laureates, business leaders, former heads of state, and humanitarians —including Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland; and Elisha Wiesel, Chairman of the Board of the Elie Wiesel Foundation—, have signed a letter calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the Armenian prisoners, including the eight Armenian political prisoners, illegally detained following Azerbaijan’s invasion and seizure of the Artsakh in September 2023.
On 17 January 2024, the French Senate adopted14 a resolution recognizing that “the democratically elected authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and its former leaders were arbitrarily arrested and detained” and calling “for their release without delay.”[34]
In a report issued in December 2023, former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the captivity of the “three former Artsakh presidents and […] other community leaders” by Azerbaijan “is part of the genocide and a message to their community: if you come back to Nagorno-Karabakh, you will be starved, incarcerated, or killed.” [35]
The European Parliament[36], the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe[37], members of the U.S. Congress[38], Members of the European Parliament[39], parliamentarians from Belgium[40], Luxemburg[41], Australia[42], Uruguay[43], Canada[44], the Netherlands[45], Italy[46], the Pope[47], high-ranking E.U.[48], Canadian[49], U.K.[50] and other officials,[51] and international organizations[52] have also called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Azerbaijan’s “judiciary is corrupt and subservient to the executive”
The legal proceedings initiated by Azerbaijan against Armenian detainees since 2020 raise grave concerns regarding violations of international fair trial standards. These trials observed to date have exhibited numerous procedural deficiencies, including an automatic presumption of guilt, lack of defense witness examination, lack of access to case files in the language they understand, inadequate legal representation, and the absolute absence of the right to defense as well as an impartial and independent tribunal.[53]
“Although nominally independent, the Azerbaijani Bar Association (AVK) acts on the orders of the Ministry of Justice and is complicit in the harassment of human rights lawyers.”[54]
Reportedly, the state-provided legal aid in Azerbaijan is not independent and not effective, and independent lawyers are intimidated and obstructed from fulfilling their duties.[55]
Many cases have remained opaque, with little access to fair justice. Moreover, reportedly, the accused do not have access to evidence used against them based on the claims that charges relate to the ‘national security of Azerbaijan’ as well as case materials are provided without proper translation and at limited times with no ability to take notes due to ‘national security’[56] gravely affecting the right to defense and fair trial.
Furthermore, the fabricated cases and the politically motivated show trials serve to fuel the existing state-sponsored Armenophobia and hatred and propaganda against Armenians as reported by international human rights bodies and organizations.[57]
The judiciary is corrupt and subservient to the executive.[58] The judges —appointed by the parliament on the proposal of the president— have a history of politically motivated rulings. Often based on false evidence and coerced confessions[59], these trials lack legitimacy.
The judiciary in Azerbaijan has been widely recognized as lacking independence, with substantial evidence indicating that it is subordinate to the executive branch.[60] “Neither the judiciary nor the parliament provides an effective check on executive power. Azerbaijan’s judiciary depends heavily on the executive and does not provide effective recourse against violations of basic rights.”[61] “The role of the domestic courts [is] limited to [an] automatic endorsement of the prosecution’s applications without any genuine or independent review of the ‘lawfulness’ of the applicant’s detention”.[62]
There is extensive public documentation of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment in Azerbaijani prisons.[63] The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has “made genuine attempts to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities to address matters that lie at the heart of the CPT’s raison d’être. The CPT has detailed in its visit reports that it continues to receive allegations of severe acts of ill-treatment and even torture by police officers. Yet, no action has been taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan to implement the Committee’s long-standing recommendations to end such practices. Further, the Committee received no responses to the letters from its President to promote dialogue through holding high-level talks in Baku or even following the notification of a visit to the Azerbaijani authorities. This represents a fundamental and unprecedented breach of the Convention.”[64]
Independent Monitoring of Trials is Crucial
With media freedom in Azerbaijan severely curtailed[65] and with no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenian captives are deprived of a right to consular access, further eroding their right to a fair trial.
The ongoing and pending trials of the Armenian detainees —POWs and detainees— must be independently monitored. Unrestricted access to the trial proceedings and the public release of the results should be part of this monitoring. Such supervision is essential to guaranteeing the protection of Armenian hostages’ legal rights, their right to a fair trial, and the observance of the international norms of justice and impartiality.
Representatives of multilateral organizations, foreign governments (and their embassies in Baku), news organizations, and civil society are urged to try and attend and monitor the trials of the Armenian hostages in Baku.
Representatives of multilateral organizations, foreign governments, and civil society are urged to speak out publicly and condemn these proceedings because of the systematic and egregious violations of substantive and procedural due process rights of the four political prisoners under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, is employing a Stalin strategy by holding trials to get rid of anyone who disagrees with him. He is punishing Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Azerbaijani civilians, and a French businessman.
The imprisonment of Armenians from Artsakh is a warning to the 120,000 Armenians who were forcibly expelled from their ancestral homeland in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), which has since been ethnically cleansed. They were all starved since April 2023 and blasted in September, creating the conditions necessary to eradicate the ethnic group as a whole and cause severe psychological damage—both of which are tangible manifestations of genocide.
[1] https://zoryaninstitute.org/reflections-on-the-baku-and-sumgait-pogroms-30-years-later/ , https://armenpress.am/en/article/1072867 , https://www.thearmenianreport.com/post/azerbaijan-s-dark-history-the-baku-pogroms-remembered
[2] There are currently 23 acknowledged Armenian detainees in Baku. There are also over 80 documented cases of captivity, which remain unacknowledged by Azerbaijan. They were subjected to enforced disappearances, which amounted to war crimes. See attached info on all twenty-three hostages. Because of a lack of publicly reported information about their cases, this document does not and cannot address the situation of the alleged prisoners of war and one civilian who are being put on trial along with the rest. For details see The Armenian hostages —POWs, civilians and political prisoners— still illegally detained by Azerbaijan – Free Armenian Hostages
[3] https://musavat.com/news/herbi-cinayetkarlarin-isi-uzre-mehkemenin-vaxti-bilindi_1132107.html?d=1
[4] https://freearmenianprisoners.com/ruben-vardanyan-may-face-life-imprisonment-on-fabricated-charges/ . For further information, contact Jared Genser, International Counsel for Ruben Vardanyan, zsalman@perseus- strategies.com, or WhatsApp / Signal at +1 202 320 4135.
[5] https://en.apa.az/incident/azerbaijan-reveals-trial-date-for-armenian-war-criminal-ruben-vardanyan-457324
[6] E. Mammadeliyev, Ruben Vardanyan Has Been Charged With 42 Articles – The Criminal Case Will Be Investigated Under the Chairmanship of a Famous Judge, USAVAT, Dec. 28, 2024, available at https://musavat.com/news/ruben-vardanyana-42-madde-uzre-ittiham-verilib-cinayet-isi-meshur-hakimin-sedrliyi-ile- arasdirilacaq_1133971.html?ref=oc-media.org
[7] Azerbaijan’s military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 has been recognized as ethnic cleansing by the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe, the French Senate, members of the U.S. Congress, civil society, and other experts – including Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland; and Elisha Wiesel, Chair of the Board of the Elie Wiesel Foundation.
[8] https://genocidescholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IAGS-Resolution-on-Nagorno-Karabakh.pdf
[9] Ibid.
[10] Risk Factors and Indicators of the Crime of Genocide in the Republic of Artsakh, LEMKIN INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE PREVENTION, Sept. 5, 2023, at 109, available at https://www.lemkininstitute.com/armeniaproject/report%3A-risk-factors-and-indicators-of-the-crime-of-genocide-in-the-republic-of-artsakh%3A-applying-the-un-framework-of-analysis-for-atrocity-crimes-to-the-nagorno-karabakh-conflict; Anti-Armenian Xenophobia and Racism in Azerbaijan 2022, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL ET AL., 2022, at ¶ 180, available at https://transparency.am/en/publication/pdf/335/10651/.
[11] Risk Factors and Indicators of the Crime of Genocide in the Republic of Artsakh, LEMKIN INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE PREVENTION, Sept. 5, 2023, at 107, available at https://www.lemkininstitute.com/armeniaproject/report%3A-risk-factors-and-indicators-of-the-crime-of-genocide-in-the-republic-of-artsakh%3A-applying-the-un-framework-of-analysis-for-atrocity-crimes-to-the-nagorno-karabakh-conflict
[12] Aliyev on Armenian-Azerbaijan Border, Nagorno-Karabakh Status: We Are in Our Territory, July 23, 2021, available at https://jam-news.net/aliyev-on-armenian-azerbaijan-border-nagorno-karabakh-status-we-are-in-our-territory/.
[13] Anti-Armenian Xenophobia and Racism in Azerbaijan 2022, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL ET AL., 2022, at ¶¶ 108, 140.
[14] David Nutt, Report Shows Near-Total Erasure of Armenian Heritage Sites, CORNELL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES, Sept. 12, 2022, available at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/09/report-shows-near-total-erasure-armenian-heritage-sites.
[15] Caucasus Heritage Watch’s reports are available at https://caucasusheritage.cornell.edu/?page_id=866. In particular, see Nagorno-Karabakh Monitoring Reports #1-#6.
[16] Order of Dec. 7, 2021, Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Armenia v. Azerbaijan), INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE, at ¶ 98(c), available at https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/180/180-20211207-ORD-01-00-EN.pdf
[17] “New Report: Azerbaijani Regime Ethnically Cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh According to International Fact-Finding Mission”, 11 November 2024, available at https://iphronline.org/articles/new-report-azerbaijani-regime-ethnically-cleansed-nagorno-karabakh/
[18] E. Mammadeliyev, Ruben Vardanyan Has Been Charged With 42 Articles – The Criminal Case Will Be Investigated Under the Chairmanship of a Famous Judge, USAVAT, Dec. 28, 2024, available at https://musavat.com/news/ruben-vardanyana-42-madde-uzre-ittiham-verilib-cinayet-isi-meshur-hakimin-sedrliyi-ile-arasdirilacaq_1133971.html?ref=oc-media.org.
[19] Baku Sets Up “Single Investigative Team” for Former Artsakh Leaders’ Cases, Dec. 12, 2023, available at https://www.asbarez.com/baku-sets-up-single-investigative-team-for-former-artsakh-leaders-cases/ .
[20] Azerbaijan Says It Has Detained Former Karabakh Separatist President Harutyunyan, Oct. 5, 2023, available at https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20231005-azerbaijan-says-it-has-detained-former-karabakh-separatist-president-harutyunyan .
[21] Timucin Turksoy, Azerbaijan Army Ranked As Strongest in South Caucasus, Jan. 9, 2023, available at https://caspiannews.com/news-detail/azerbaijan-army-ranked-as-strongest-in-south-caucasus-2023-1-9-0.
[22] President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev Was Interviewed by Local TV Channels, Jan. 10, 2024. Available at https://president.az/en/articles/view/58555
[23] Azerbaijan Continues Investigation Against Armenian Separatists in Line With Int’l Conventions – Prosecutor General, AZVISION.AZ, Jan. 20, 2024, available at https://en.azvision.az/news/176133/azerbaijan-continues-%20investigation%C2%A0against-armenian-separatists-in-line-with-int%E2%80%99l-conventions-prosecutor-%20general.html
[24] See, e.g., State Security Service: Ruben Vardanyan Charged With Financing Terrorism, AZE.MEDIA, Sept. 28, 2023, available at https://aze.media/state-security-service-ruben-vardanyan-charged-with-financing-terrorism/; Azerbaijan’s State Security Service: Armenian Citizen Ruben Vardanyan Taken Into Custody as Suspect, BAKU TRIBUNE, Sept. 28, 2023, available at https://bakutribune.com/en/news/1219/azerbaijan%E2%80%99s-state-security-service-armenian-citizen-ruben-vardanyan-taken-into-custody-as-suspect.
[25] Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, A/68/285, Aug. 7, 2013, at Summary.
[26] Id., at ¶ 47.
[27] Id., at ¶¶ 54, 100.
[28] Special Rapporteur, Issue of the Administration of Justice Through Military Tribunals, SUB-COMMISSION ON THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, E/CN/.4/2006/58, Jan. 13, 2006.
[29] Id., at Principle 5 and ¶¶ 20-21.
[30] Nations in Transit 2023: Azerbaijan, FREEDOM HOUSE, available at https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/nations-transit/2023.
[31] Azerbaijan: Trump Administration Must Raise Human Rights During High Level Visit, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, available at https://www.amnestyusa.org/updates/azerbaijan-trump-bolton-human-rights/.
[32] 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practice: Azerbaijan, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mar. 20, 2023, available at https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country- reports-on-human-rights-practices/azerbaijan/.
[33] https://freearmenianprisoners.com/supporters/#tab=inaugural
[34] Resolution on the Territorial Integrity of the Republic of Armenia, SENATE OF FRANCE, adopted Jan. 17, 2024, available at https://www.senat.fr/leg/ppr23-157.html [in French].
[35] Luis Moreno Ocampo, Current Genocides and the Consistent International Practice to Deny Them: Summary of the Case of Nagorno-Karabakh, UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO, Dec. 2023, available at https://luismorenoocampo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/USP-Innovation-on-Global-Order.-Nagorno-Karabakh-case-2023.pdf.
[36] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-10-2024-0029_EN.pdf
[37] https://pace.coe.int/en/files/33145/html
[38] https://anca.org/assets/pdf/110923_Schiff_POWresolution.pdf , https://anca.org/assets/pdf/040424_Markey_Cassidy_Peters_Tillis_Letter.pdf , https://anca.org/assets/pdf/100324_PalloneMarkey_COP29.pdf , https://armenianweekly.com/2024/06/12/senator-markey-demands-azerbaijan-release-armenian-hostages/ , https://armenianweekly.com/2024/11/19/markey-whitehouse-and-pallone-lead-congressional-calls-at-cop29-for-return-of-armenians-to-artsakh-azerbaijans-release-of-armenian-hostages/ , https://anca.org/assets/pdf/121724_PetersCassidy_Artsakh_SenateBill_Text.pdf
[39] https://eafjd.eu/eu-parliamentarians-address-a-statement-to-azerbaijani-government-and-the-eu-executive-leadership-in-the-run-up-to-cop29/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHoZFxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXhgdF66oQPg0zi6Mao-iJbuipmF42ZU8MsPfAGdAH_orJ0PgJ37LelUxA_aem_AqrQADYtxxPIbSxr_qj1vA
[40] https://eafjd.eu/belgian-politicians-and-parliamentarians-address-a-statement-to-the-azerbaijan-government-and-the-belgian-government-as-cop29-unfolds/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHoaD9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTeF0yuL7j3PlrIdKjdv19vjHXlK7qfBiu9MijGxPQunr4jKuftriXWmyg_aem_MSR-ao5ymZD1dkrwHn1Hew
[41] https://asbarez.com/luxembourg-urges-baku-to-release-armenian-pows/ , https://asbarez.com/europe-lawmakers-demand-that-baku-release-armenian-captives-leave-armenias-territory/
[42] https://www.anc.org.au/Media-Releases/Australian-House-of-Representatives-Has-Spoken–Unanimous-Debate-Slams-Azerbaijan-Calling-for-Pro-Armenian-Measures , https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/-FreeArmenianHostages–Paul-Fletcher-MP-Sponsors-Armenian-Political-Prisoner-Davit-Ishkhanyan , https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/-FreeArmenianHostages–Michael-Sukkar-MP-Sponsors-Armenian-Political-Prisoner-Bako-Sahakyan
[43] https://www.diarioarmenia.org.ar/la-comision-permanente-del-parlamento-de-uruguay-solicito-a-azerbaiyan-la-liberacion-de-los-prisioneros-de-guerra-y-rehenes-armenios/
[44] https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19ru9bEFde/
[45] https://en.armradio.am/2024/10/12/dutch-parliament-panel-calls-for-release-of-armenian-captives-protection-of-cultural-heritage-in-nagorno-karabakh/
[46] https://www.tempi.it/appello-per-la-liberazione-dei-prigionieri-e-detenuti-armeni/?highlight=Karabakh
[47] https://asbarez.com/while-pope-calls-for-release-of-pows-icrc-visits-them-in-azerbaijan/ , https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33206965.html
[48] https://asbarez.com/azerbaijan-must-guarantee-return-of-karabakh-armenians-eu-special-envoy-says/
[49] https://horizonweekly.ca/en/canadas-minister-of-foreign-affairs-melanie-joly-reaffirms-that-canada-will-continue-to-press-azerbaijan-to-engage-in-good-faith-with-armenia/ , https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/09/statement-by-minister-joly-one-year-after-azerbaijans-military-operation-in-the-nagorno-karabakh-region.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawHod3lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXadpW59rd4o1BIqD_KyVaXplC6oHvXfk-Biu0Gmkysoii5YHF52qMmCPg_aem_H0dk2DpOQhmR3H_xMiH7tA , https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/nagorno-karabakh-artsakh-cop29-armenian-montrealers-1.7383163
[50] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-10-04/5931, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-10-07/hl1194, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-10-24/10973?fbclid=IwY2xjawHzcKdleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHT7eDG-NSitnr331JmHfW9hJiuFfVVcccNfXFVxQhpEx-apEzx_hW-JFdg_aem_ALlGp8Zfw1SDAERXPXXMQQ, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-11-11/13576?fbclid=IwY2xjawHzcaFleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYogap4VYrHJY5bP_lwb8d3-uCb6ZTvBtNitvgUMiTfiJHPEfcXG3gaZHA_aem_vfbSlJeF6tvzcJAmPYeEQw, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-11-08/13193?fbclid=IwY2xjawHzcd5leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHX3KyVGyV1bA0XMMPchUIVfpNLlofbpj0RmjhQMJuNdxvtv8K81hyN9UkA_aem_-wnwu28jkm-3pmaPBKh4PA, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-10-31/hl2192?fbclid=IwY2xjawHzcg1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRUqyKzuQxB-xeWv9r9OUX5jc9ZfCgNIUMBmymxaAECAdlz3EUxVyBl9CQ_aem_aik7zdTKBgEzZFRRORvHJw,
[51] Anne Hidalgo demande la libération de 55 prisonniers arméniens en Azerbaïdjan – La maire de Paris estime que ces détenus, parmi lesquels se trouvent huit anciens dirigeants du Haut-Karabakh, sont des prisonniers politiques, available at https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/anne-hidalgo-demande-la-liberation-de-55-prisonniers-armeniens-en-azerbaidjan-11-11-2023-2542744_24.php#11 , «Париж всегда на стороне жертв»: конфликт Армении и Азербайджана стал одной из главных тем парижского Форума мира, available at https://tinyurl.com/2njmhb2u
[52] Socialist International Calls for Collective Return of Artsakh Armenians, 25 February 2024, available at https://asbarez.com/socialist-international-calls-for-collective-return-of-artsakh-armenians/, World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance, and global partners call for immediate release of Armenian prisoners, 11 November 2024, available at https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-world-evangelical-alliance-and-global-partners-call-for-immediate-release-of-armenian-prisoners
[53] “2021 Country Reports on Human Rights: Azerbaijan,” 2021, available at, https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/azerbaijan/ ; “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights: Azerbaijan,” 2022, available at https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/azerbaijan/ ; “2023 Country Reports on Human rights Practices: Azerbaijan,” 2023, available at https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/azerbaijan/ ; “A former Russian tycoon who once led separatist region launches a hunger strike in Azerbaijan jail,” 2024, available at https://apnews.com/article/karabakh-vardanyan-separatist-russia-23175bce62842677808f79c5c32c558a ; “Azerbaijan Stages Trials of Armenian POWs,” 2021, available at https://asbarez.com/azerbaijan-stages-trial-of-armenian-pows/ ; ‘The Planning, Inciting, Ordering, Instigating, And Implementing of Genocide by President Ilham Aliyev and Other High Ranking Officials,” 2024, available at https://www.cftjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ICC-Communication-NEW-IND.pdf ; Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union, “Conference on the ‘Armenian Prisoners of War in Azerbaijan: the situation three years after the adoption of the European Parliament resolution on the topic’” March 19 2024, available at https://eu.mfa.am/en/news/2024/03/19/conference-on-the-armenian-prisoners-of-war-in-azerbaijan-the-situation-thre e-years-after-the-adopt/12725 ; MFA Statement, 2023, available at https://www.mfa.am/en/interviews-articles-and-comments/2023/07/29/mfa_statement_icrc/12115 ; Human Rights Watch, “Azerbaijan: Armenian POWs Abused in Custody,” March 19, 2021, available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/19/azerbaijan-armenian-pows-abused-custody ; United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor “Azerbaijan 2023 Human Rights Report,” available at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/528267_AZERBAIJAN-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf
[54] Ibid.
[55] UN CAT, Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Azerbaijan, 5 June 2024, UN Doc.
CAT/C/AZE/CO/5, para. 12, available at: https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsusYiSuSrPLlzeM6vyQJAlbvpsRMzakiv65%2BzRCx1s%2BZfgGkLAwIYrerozRuxmmEjROQGPy07cpetIw4SIfZagBxlYBKvQ4TjkzSOhmJOXmS
[56] Armenpress, Legal team for Ruben Vardanyan condemns Azerbaijan’s new spurious charges threatening life imprisonment, 16 December 2024, https://armenpress.am/en/article/1207563
[57] CERD, Concluding Observations on the combined tenth and twelfth periodic reports on Azerbaijan, CERD/C/AZE/CO/10-12, 30 August 2022, available at: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g22/499/30/pdf/g2249930.pdf ; ECRI, Report on Azerbaijan, adopted on 28 June 2002, available at https://rm.coe.int/first-report-on-azerbaijan/16808b5579; ECRI, Report on Azerbaijan, adopted on 15 December 2006, available in
https://rm.coe.int/ecri-second-report-on-azerbaijanadopted-on-15-december-2006-published/16808b78b4; ECRI, Report on Azerbaijan (fifth monitoring cycle) Adopted on 17 March 2016, available at https://rm.coe.int/fourth-report-on-azerbaijan/16808b5581
[58] Freedom House report on “Freedom in the World 2023, Azerbaijan”, available at https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-world/2023
[59] https://armenianweekly.com/2024/03/25/urgent-action-needed-to-address-azerbaijans-violations/
[60] International Commission of Jurists “ICJ Recommendations to the Azerbaijan Bar Association on the Role and Independence of Lawyers,” 2019, available at https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Azerbaijan-ICJ-Recommendations-Bar-Ass-Advocacy-Analysis-Brief-2019-ENG.pdf; ICJ Recommendations to the Azerbaijan Bar Association on the Role and Independence of Lawyers, 2016, available at
https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Azerbaijan-ICJ-Recommendations-Bar-Ass-Advocacy-Analysis-Brief-2019-ENG.pdf; Human Rights Watch “Azerbaijan 2021,” 2021, available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/azerbaijan.
[61] “We Try to Stay Invisible” Azerbaijan’s Escalating Crackdown on Critics and Civil Society, 8 October 2024, available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/10/08/we-try-stay-invisible/azerbaijans-escalating-crackdown-critics-and-civil-society
[62] European Human Rights Advocacy Center, https://ehrac.org.uk/en_gb/key-ehrac-cases/aliyev-v-azerbaijan/
[63] REQUEST FOR URGENT APPEAL: Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – Ruben Vardanyan, Political Prisoner Detained in Azerbaijan, 13 June 2024, available at https://www.perseus-strategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Urgent-Appeal-SRT-%E2%80%93-June-13-2024-redacted.pdf
[64] Council of Europe anti-torture Committee issues public statement on Azerbaijan, 3 July 2024, available at https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-issues-public-statement-on-azerbaijan
[65] Reporters Without Borders ranks Azerbaijan at 164 out of 180 countries on the 2024 Press Freedom Index, with a score of 27.99, available at https://rsf.org/en/country/azerbaijan, Freedom House ranks Azerbaijan as “Not Free”, available at https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores