{"id":1711,"date":"2026-04-23T23:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T23:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/?p=1711"},"modified":"2026-05-11T00:00:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T00:00:51","slug":"is-the-armenian-government-prepared-to-organize-visits-for-the-relatives-of-prisoners-to-baku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/?p=1711","title":{"rendered":"Is the Armenian Government Prepared to Organize Visits for the Relatives of Prisoners to Baku?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ruzanna Stepanyan<\/strong> | Azatutyun.am<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The son of one of the 19 Armenian prisoners held in Baku, Madat Babayan, says he is ready to travel to Baku to see his father, whom he has not seen for three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoever wants can organize it \u2014 we just want to go and see him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Babayan, a resident of the village of Getavan in Martakert, failed to leave the village during Azerbaijan\u2019s military offensive against Artsakh in September 2023 and was later captured by Azerbaijani forces. Baku accused the 74-year-old Armenian man of involvement in the so-called \u201cKhojaly genocide\u201d and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no trust in them [Azerbaijan]. If it happens through the Red Cross, it\u2019s possible to go. If it is safe, then there is no issue,\u201d Babayan\u2019s son said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armen speaks with his father by telephone once a week from the prison in Baku. He has no opportunity to obtain information from any independent body regarding his father\u2019s health condition or detention conditions. Since the closure of the Red Cross office last September, Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan have found themselves in complete isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last time we spoke was a week ago. He has a tumor in his throat, and that troubles him the most. He says there is something in his throat that constantly bothers him \u2014 he cannot breathe properly or eat normally,\u201d Babayan\u2019s son recounted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The previous day, former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan had appealed from a prison in Baku to the Armenian authorities with a request to allow relatives to visit the prisoners. He questioned why Armenian officials negotiate with Azerbaijan on economic matters while the issues concerning the lives, health, and rights of Armenian prisoners are absent from Yerevan\u2019s official agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vardanyan therefore requested that the possibility be considered for his wife, Veronika Zonabend, as well as the relatives of other prisoners, to visit Baku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are Armenia\u2019s state institutions prepared to organize visits to Azerbaijan for the relatives of the 19 Armenians being held in Baku prisons? Neither Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan nor the Foreign Ministry had responded to Vardanyan\u2019s request as of yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, human rights advocates are convinced that Armenian state institutions are capable of organizing such visits, just as they have done in the case of non-governmental organizations, which have already conducted reciprocal visits twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to international law specialist Anna Melikyan, since the process of securing the prisoners\u2019 immediate release is dragging on, steps must now be taken to protect the rights of Armenian citizens and their relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering that there is currently no international organization in Azerbaijan able to visit the Armenian prisoners and assess their detention conditions and health status, the human rights advocate believes Armenia should use all available instruments, including mediation by other countries, to exert influence on Baku and protect the rights of its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the context of consolidating peace, resolving primary humanitarian issues is, in my opinion, far more important before speaking about restoring trade relations,\u201d Anna Melikyan emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the Armenian government taking sufficient steps to secure the prisoners\u2019 return and protect their rights?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The international law specialist stressed that if sufficient steps had been taken, the captured Armenians would already be back in Armenia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human rights advocate believes that the Armenian authorities are clearly constrained on this issue in order not to provoke Azerbaijan\u2019s dissatisfaction. Anna Melikyan noted that Armenia\u2019s position has changed sharply since last year and that the authorities no longer clearly raise prisoner-related issues as violations of rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Melikyan: \u201cMoreover, in speeches \u2014 including at the level of the prime minister at the United Nations and the European Parliament \u2014 we noticed that when the issue is raised, there seems to be an attempt to soften the problem and neutralize its severity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, only Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan has responded to Ruben Vardanyan\u2019s request from the Baku prison. However, she essentially stated that she does not have a mandate to organize visits or issue assessments regarding Azerbaijani prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou understand as well that I cannot exercise monitoring powers in another state. Naturally, all those particularities must be taken into account,\u201d Ombudsperson Anahit Manasyan told journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the Human Rights Defender believes that the government is not displaying inaction regarding the protection of prisoners\u2019 rights and promised that she would speak out if she observed such a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I see inaction or, in general, a failure to exercise their powers, naturally I myself will be the first to speak publicly about it,\u201d Manasyan stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan constrained in assessing the Armenian authorities\u2019 actions regarding the protection of prisoners\u2019 rights?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights advocate Anna Melikyan is convinced that the ombudsperson could use her mandate more actively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ruzanna Stepanyan | Azatutyun.am The son of one of the 19 Armenian prisoners held in Baku, Madat Babayan, says he is ready to travel to Baku to see his father, whom he has not seen for three years. \u201cWhoever wants can organize it \u2014 we just want to go and see him,\u201d he said. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,12,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-the-hostages","category-advocacy","category-english","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711","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=1711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1713,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions\/1713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}