‘Have You No Shame?”: Ruben Vardanyan says Armenian Government has Failed Cap

A week after Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan said that the issue of Armenian captives being held in Baku was not within the purview of her duties, Artsakh’s former State Minister, Ruben Vardanyan, who is serving a 20-year sentence in a Baku prison, asked “then whose mandate is it?”

Manasyan made the statement in response to an open letter penned by Vardanyan, who had asked the rights defender to travel to Baku and meet with the prisoners.

In response to Manasyan, Vardanyan issued another letter through his family, accusing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government of abandoning the Armenians currently being held in Baku, some of whom are serving life sentence.

Below is the text of Vardanyan’s letter to Manasyan.

I have reviewed the response of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Ms. Anahit Manasyan, to my appeal.

I will not publicly assess her position. That is a matter between her and her conscience. I will say simply: I am genuinely sorry. God will be your judge.

However, this response raises very specific questions — not only for the institution of the Human Rights Defender, but for the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

If the protection of Armenian citizens held in Azerbaijani prisons does not fall within the mandate of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender, then whose mandate is it?

Who has been appointed within the government to be responsible for this matter? When were they appointed? Why do neither the families of the detainees nor society at large know anything about this?

There are people who have been in Baku’s prisons for six years. During this time, the Government of Armenia has failed to establish any sustainable and coherent mechanism for communication with them — neither through third-party countries, including the embassies of states with a presence in Baku, nor through international organizations.

Why?

Why can Armenian officials travel to Azerbaijan on trade, economic, and other matters, but cannot organize a visit concerning the lives, health, and legal situation of Armenian captives? Is the fate of these people not more important than trade negotiations?

Why has a basic mechanism for delivering essential items to the detainees still not been put in place?

A number of people have received no parcels for over a year. Many have no adequate clothing and no way to receive what they genuinely need, given their age, health conditions, and the circumstances of their detention.

Instead, whatever assistance does reach them is organized informally, without transparency, and without regard for the actual needs of the detainees. People receive not what they need, but what someone decided to send. This is not assistance. These are handouts.

Among those detained are people over the age of 70, people with serious health conditions. When people who have no teeth are sent dried fruit, that is not help. That is humiliation.

Is the Prime Minister aware of this?

Who is personally responsible for organizing this process? What is the established procedure? Why is it not being followed?

Have you no shame?

Is there no shame in receiving a peace prize, speaking of peace, and accepting applause — while citizens of Armenia remain in Baku’s prisons without proper protection, without systemic support, without assistance or oversight from their own state?

Name the responsible official. Publish the procedure. Explain what has been done over the past six years.

Or honestly admit that no such official exists — and that the captives have no reason to expect help from their own state.

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