Author: Emil Lazarian

Siranush Sahakyan, head of the Center for International and Comparative Law, representative of the interests of Armenian prisoners at the ECHR, informed NEWS.am that he has information from Ruben Vardanyan’s family that he was transferred to the Umbak prison complex in Baku’s Gharadagh district.

The last statements of Mrs. Sahakyan and Ruben Vardanyan, addressed first to the human rights defenders of Azerbaijan and then to Armenia, were disturbing. Now that the activities of the Red Cross have been stopped and the judicial farce is over, from which at least from time to time photographs were published and one could make judgments based on their appearance, what information is there about the condition and conditions of detention of him and the other prisoners?

The situation is disturbing and worrying. I have information from Ruben Vardanyan’s family that he was transferred from the investigative detention center under the National Security Service to the penitentiary under the Ministry of Justice, the Umbak prison complex in the Gharadagh district of Baku. According to our information, other Armenian prisoners were also transferred to this facility.

Nothing is known about the conditions he and the other captives were held in the new facility. There is no transparency in this issue either, the guarantees established by the norms of international law are violated. in particular, they did not inform the family members in advance where and when they are moving and what changes will be made in terms of routine and calls. There is no reliable information about their health, access to medical care, basic living conditions. You know that since September of last year, at the request of the government of Azerbaijan, ICRC’s activities in that country were suspended, but once after that, in December of last year, the Geneva office of ICRC managed to visit and visit the Armenian prisoners. After that we don’t have any exact information about their condition.

I can only say that at the moment, phone calls with family members are kept, some information is transferred during these private conversations, but there is no structure that collects and records information through direct observation, condition, monitoring, and this creates an information vacuum.

Ruben Vardanyan also said that until now the verdict has not been provided in any language, which, in fact, hinders the appeal process. In this regard, do you have any news, if the judgments are not issued within the specified time, does it mean that they cannot apply even to, for example, the European Court?

The ECHR obliged Azerbaijan to provide the prisoners’ verdicts by August 31. This decision can be an incentive for providing these documents.

At the same time, this does not mean that Azerbaijan can block the way to international courts by not issuing verdicts. On the contrary, in such a situation, we can record that the domestic legal measures do not work effectively, and in such conditions, the calculation of the deadlines for applying to the ECHR starts from the moment of the actual receipt of judicial acts.

It should be noted that at the moment the ECHR has become an important link, because some documents, including those concerning the health condition of the prisoners, are obtained thanks to the court’s activities. As is known, Azerbaijan submitted such information to the court back in January, but in February presented a new motion, asking the ECHR to eliminate the measures of security applied to Armenian prisoners and to stop the obligation to submit reports.

We have submitted a position regarding this petition, arguing that the immediate threats to the lives and health of the captives continue to exist. Moreover, the lack of information itself is a cause for serious concern and can be considered as a circumstance involving the risk of torture. In such circumstances, the continued involvement of the ECHR remains crucial.

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On April 27, a meeting of heads of RA diplomatic missions accredited in countries and organizations of the European region was held in Paris under the leadership of RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan. This was reported by the RA MFA.

Minister Mirzoyan stated in his opening speech. “The last time we all met, of course with a larger group, at the end of August, after which a lot of events took place, especially in the European world and in the relations of the Republic of Armenia with the European Union and individual countries. Strategic cooperation with many countries is being discussed. In a week, we will also see the signing of the long-negotiated document with France.

Before this, in recent months, of course, this has already happened with some countries, for example, with Germany. Of course, the names differ slightly from document to document. in one case it is a confirmation of strategic partnership, in another case it is a strategic partnership agenda. For example, we signed the “Strategic Partnership Agenda” with the European Union and so on.”

Minister Mirzoyan referred to the high-level events to be held in Yerevan on May 4-6, the European Political Community and RA-EU summits and the “Yerevan Dialogue” event.

Vahan Kostanyan, the deputy minister coordinating relations with European countries, referred to the main agenda of the CIS and RA-EU summits, the documents to be signed.

General Secretary of the Foreign Ministry Davit Karapetyan referred to the preparations for the “Yerevan Dialogue” and the main directions of the discussions.

During the meeting of ambassadors, the works, current programs and prospects for deepening the RA-EU partnership, bilateral cooperation with European countries were discussed.

Minister Mirzoyan presented the implementation process of regional interconnection projects with the participation of Armenia, the works being carried out with international partners in the direction of the development of the economic and transport infrastructure network.

Reference was made to the processes of normalization and development of relations with neighbors, including the steps towards the institutionalization of the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Thoughts were exchanged on regional and international developments, existing challenges.

Initiatives aimed at improving the diplomatic service were also discussed during the discussion, as well as the proposed amendments to the RA Law “On Diplomatic Service”.

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