In 2023, after the September events in Artsakh, Azerbaijani border guards arrested 8 Armenian military and political figures.
Authorities and human rights activists give different information about the exact number of prisoners. In Baku, they talk about 23 Armenian prisoners, including 15 prisoners of war and civilians.
Siranush Sahakyan, head of the “International and Comparative Law Center,” who represents the interests of Armenian prisoners at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), noted in an interview with the BBC Russian Service, that the real number of prisoners significantly exceeds official data.
Siranush Sahakyan and the lawyer representing Ruben Vardanyan, Jared Genser, expressed confidence that the upcoming COP29 in November could once again draw the attention of the world community to the problem of prisoners and political prisoners.
Lawyer Siranush Sahakyan believes that the release of all detained Armenians should be discussed within the framework of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the efforts of the Armenian authorities seem insufficient to her.
"The pressure must come from the international community. Armenia is not capable of exerting the necessary pressure on its own. If it remains passive and does not turn to the international community for support, then the necessary pressure simply will not occur," says Sahakyan.