Ruben Vardanyan, the former minister of state of Artsakh, who was illegally convicted in Azerbaijan, sounded another alarm the other day, announcing that he tried to contact the human rights defender of Azerbaijan, but did not succeed because the contact was interrupted. He even tried to contact the Ministry of Human Rights of Azerbaijan through a lawyer, again in vain. Regarding all this, the other day through the Ruben Vardanyan family statement had spread.

Siranush Sahakyan, representative and lawyer of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). According to Ruben Vardanyan’s message, it clearly shows the problem that has been raised many times: the absolute isolation of Armenian prisoners, the lack of contact with the outside world, and the lack of effective legal measures.

“All this means that the rights of these persons cannot be protected. Even the local mechanisms, which are meant to protect the rights of persons in closed institutions, become ineffective in the case of ethnic Armenians. This record is not only our approach, but also a judicial record of the ECHR that the Azerbaijani authorities cannot provide protection measures for ethnic Armenians.” 168.amSiranush Sahakyan said in a conversation with

According to him, in the case of Armenian hostages and prisoners, the only mechanism in Baku that could act relatively, and that is, in order to solve humanitarian issues, was the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The operation of the office in Baku is currently suspended and discretionary during this time one entry visit took place, within which some humanitarian assistance was provided for the transfer of hygiene items and other items.

Siranush Sahakyan noted that the government of Azerbaijan, having organized the illegal trials, also refuses to give the verdicts to the recipients and their family members.

“All this shows that these trials were fake, they were political processes carried out for other purposes, and by not issuing these verdicts, Azerbaijan is also trying to hinder international legal protection. And here we find ourselves in the domain of violation of new rights,” added the human rights defender.

Our interlocutor emphasized that the only way in these conditions is international involvement, for example, as a result of negotiations, making Red Cross visits regular, which, unfortunately, depends on the will and desire of the Azerbaijani authorities. There may also be the right of consular visit, which is exercised directly by the Republic of Armenia or mediated through a third neutral state.

“I record with great pain that there is inaction here, and the Republic of Armenia does not exercise its sovereign rights towards its own citizens and contributes to the formation of this gap, a vacuum. The great burden falls on the shoulders of human rights defenders, who should be able to present the situation to the international community and make it an agenda in the background of these injustices happening in the world. Of course, this is very difficult, especially when there is no proactive state policy and diplomacy, it is also difficult because human rights problems have become widespread in various sectors. We should also raise the issues of Armenian prisoners, achieve the internationalization of these issues and in that way also reach the solution.

Of course, taking legal protection measures with the involvement of families is also in the discussion stage. At the moment, I cannot say for sure, but I should mention in general terms that families can, under certain circumstances, entrust the protection of the interests of those in Baku and file interstate claims against Azerbaijan through their lawyers,” emphasized Siranush Sahakyan.

Let’s remind that on February 5, it became known that the military and political leadership of Artsakh, except former presidents Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, were all sentenced to life imprisonment by the Baku military court. Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan were sentenced to 20 years in prison, taking into account their age.

Let’s also remind that on September 19, 2023, after the war started against Artsakh, Azerbaijan captured the former high-ranking military and political leadership of Artsakh from September 27 under the threat of killing civilians.

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