The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued a landmark judgment in V.T. and Others v. Azerbaijan, finding multiple violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in connection with the torture and killing of an Armenian serviceman during the April 2016 war.

The ruling concerns H.T., an Armenian soldier who was rendered hors de combat after being wounded during the hostilities and was subsequently subjected to torture and killed by Azerbaijani forces, according to the case file.

The court found that Azerbaijan violated Article 2 of the Convention, which guarantees the right to life, and Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. The judges also found a violation of Article 3 with respect to both H.T. and his family members, recognizing the suffering endured by the victim and his relatives.

Lawyers representing the applicants — Siranush Sahakyan, Araks Melkonyan, Haykuhi Harutyunyan, Ara Ghazaryan and Hasmik Harutyunyan — presented the court’s legal findings at a press briefing on Wednesday, highlighting the judgment’s potential implications for accountability, individual justice and the broader framework of international human rights protection.