{"id":1330,"date":"2025-07-29T20:46:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T20:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2025-07-30T21:11:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T21:11:01","slug":"will-armenia-appeal-to-a-third-country-regarding-the-captives-held-in-baku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/?p=1330","title":{"rendered":"Will Armenia Appeal to a Third Country Regarding the Captives Held in Baku?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vacuum After the Closure of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since the 2020 war, around 210 individuals who had fallen into Azerbaijani captivity have been repatriated. According to official data, 23 Armenian prisoners of war are still being held in Azerbaijan. Trials are ongoing for 16 of them in Baku\u2019s military court, proceedings which, according to international law experts, do not meet international standards of due process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new concern regarding the Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan is that, since June, they have been placed in complete isolation. The only organization that had been regularly visiting them, monitoring their detention conditions, physical and psychological health, and facilitating brief contact with their families, was the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). However, by official decision of Baku, the ICRC has ceased operations in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, international law suggests that even under these circumstances, viable solutions remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last visit to the 23 Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan\u2014and their most recent contact with their families\u2014was arranged in June of this year through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). After that, the organization ceased its operations in Azerbaijan, following a demand from the country\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent the complete isolation of the Armenian captives held in Baku, international law experts are currently pointing to a single mechanism: the possibility of organizing \u201cconsular visits.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siranush Sahakyan, an international law expert and head of the Center for International and Comparative Law, states that this is a recognized instrument in international law, whereby any state has the right to visit its citizen who is deprived of liberty in another country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Naturally, the Republic of Armenia is the bearer of this right and holds the guaranteed legal entitlement to visit its citizens who are under criminal prosecution in Azerbaijan. However, an obstacle arises from the fact that there are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan\u2014no official representation exists whose staff could organize such visits. But there is an alternative: the state may delegate this right to a neutral third country<\/strong> that is accredited in the host state. With mutual agreement, that third country can carry out the consular visits on behalf of the state. I believe it is crucial to resolve this issue\u2014the Republic of Armenia should approach neutral countries and attempt to secure consular access through their mediation<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to circulating reports in the press, Switzerland may be ready to provide consular assistance to Armenian POWs<\/strong>, per the twin Vienna Conventions on the Establishment of Diplomatic and Consular Relations. This information was shared with 1in.am<\/em> by Gevorg Ghukasyan<\/strong>, program coordinator at the Armenian National Committee – International and a Ph.D. in Political Science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If a person is convicted in a country where their home state does not have diplomatic representation, then their state can turn to a third-party country<\/strong> to provide consular protection<\/strong> for its citizens. As far as I\u2019m aware, Switzerland is willing to provide consular assistance to the Armenian prisoners of war<\/strong>, but a key issue has arisen: the Republic of Armenia must formally request<\/strong> the Swiss government to provide such consular support to the Armenian POWs \u2014 something the Armenian government has not yet done<\/strong>. This is one known example, which is no longer a secret, though there are other countries as well<\/strong>, whose names I prefer not to disclose.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to this statement, Radiolur<\/strong> reached out to Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for clarification. The Ministry promised to provide a written reply to the inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until it becomes clear what international legal mechanisms Armenia is prepared to use to ensure visits to the captives held in Azerbaijan, the public can form only a limited understanding of the condition of the 23 prisoners<\/strong>\u2014primarily through footage released from court proceedings currently taking place in Baku. Even from these materials, one can observe the prisoners\u2019 visibly exhausted condition<\/strong>, and in some cases, signs of health issues<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court hearings against the former military and political leadership of Artsakh<\/strong> began on January 17 of this year<\/strong>, with the next session scheduled for July 31<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International law expert Siranush Sahakyan<\/strong> believes that the public nature of the trials in Baku<\/strong> serves not only propaganda or performative purposes<\/strong>, but also aims to shield Azerbaijan from international responsibility<\/strong>\u2014by creating the illusion of legal transparency and due process, despite serious procedural violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAll the Armenians have been made part of judicial proceedings, and I believe there is a clear reason for this: the release of prisoners is an obligation, a duty of the state<\/strong>. If delays are unjustified, that in itself may amount to an international crime<\/strong>. These trials, beyond their other purposes, are\u2014in our assessment\u2014also a cover for such crimes<\/strong>. That is, Azerbaijan is attempting to use the pretext of legal proceedings<\/strong> to show that it is not intentionally delaying repatriation<\/em>, but rather that these individuals are involved in court cases, part of a legal process<\/em>, and that is why they are being kept in Azerbaijan. This is an effort to shield itself from accusations of war crimes<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As of now, court hearings for 16 of the 23 captives<\/strong> are ongoing and are being held within the framework of two separate judicial processes<\/strong>: Ruben Vardanyan<\/strong> \u2013 facing trial separately; seven officials from the former political and military leadership of Artsakh<\/strong>, and eight individuals directly involved in military operations \u2013 are <\/strong>being tried under a joint case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other prisoners of war have already been sentenced to 15\u201320 years of imprisonment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s actions, even in this matter alone, constitute war crimes,<\/strong> emphasizes Siranush Sahakyan, who adds that there are cases where POWs\u2014individuals protected under international law\u2014became victims of crimes and were killed. There are also verified videos circulating that, in certain cases, they were subjected to public mass executions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is another category of violations as well, according to Siranush Sahakyan: \u201cUnfortunately, we have cases where prisoners of war have been subjected to enforced disappearance. At this moment, we do not know whether they are alive or dead. We have factual data showing that they were captured and deprived of liberty for a short time, but later disappeared. Under what conditions, under what circumstances\u2014it remains unclear. Numerous inquiries have been made regarding this by UN-affiliated working groups. The European Court [of Human Rights] is also conducting inquiries, but efforts to determine their fate remain extremely insufficient, and it is still impossible to uncover the truth. In other words, the right to truth has not yet been ensured<\/strong> for the families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his July 16 press conference, the Prime Minister of Armenia assured that there is not a single Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation in which the issue of Armenian captives is ignored<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere is no negotiation, there is no conversation in which this issue is not given proper and necessary attention. There is simply no such thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Pashinyan made this statement about all possible cases but did not comment on reports<\/strong> claiming that he had refused to appeal to U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the Armenian captives<\/strong>. He said that he was unaware of such publications, had not seen them, and therefore would not comment on something he did not know about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lena Badeyan \/ Public Radio of Armenia<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vacuum After the Closure of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan Since the 2020 war, around 210 individuals who had fallen into Azerbaijani captivity have been repatriated. According to official data, 23 Armenian prisoners of war are still being held in Azerbaijan. Trials are ongoing for 16 of them in Baku\u2019s military court, proceedings which, according […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12,5,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-english","category-news","category-trials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1332,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions\/1332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}