ECHR demands update on Armenian captives in Baku

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Azerbaijan to submit a report by November 4 detailing the conditions and health status of 23 Armenian captives currently held in Baku prisons.

Siranush Sahakyan, legal representative for the captives at the ECHR, said that Azerbaijan had requested in July to be relieved of its reporting obligation, according to RFE/RL.

However, after objections from the Armenian government and the captives’ legal representatives, the Court denied Azerbaijan’s request, obliging it to provide full information on the detainees.

The Armenian captives have reportedly been in complete isolation for nearly three months, without access to any independent international organization. Their physical and mental condition remains unknown.

The last time International Committee of the Red Cross representatives saw the captives was in June. The organization ceased operations in Baku in September, following demands from the Azerbaijani authorities.

In September 2023, following a nine-month blockade and the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenian population, Azerbaijan captured former presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan, along with former state minister Ruben Vardanyan, foreign minister David Babayan, and other former officials. The fabricated charges against them could lead to life sentences. A politically motivated trial began in Baku on January 17.