Ruben Vardanyan’s wife, Veronika Zonabend, in an interview with Mediamax, addressed the condition of her husband, who is being held in detention in Azerbaijan, the limitations on communication with his family, and the humanitarian issues surrounding Armenian detainees.
According to Zonabend, the family has limited information about Ruben: “The main source of information is the rare phone calls, which do not bring reassurance. On the contrary, after the conversation ends, you keep replaying every word in your mind: how did his voice sound, was there fatigue, was he perhaps trying to hide something so as not to worry us?”
Referring to Vardanyan’s health condition, Zonabend noted that information is received exclusively from Ruben himself, who assures that he feels well, but for the family this cannot replace information obtained from independent sources. “After the International Committee of the Red Cross left, we lost even the minimal channel of trust that we previously had. Through the ICRC, the family had the opportunity to send a five-minute video to Ruben, and he could send one to us. Now he does not see us. We do not see him. He has not seen how his grandchild, who is already two years old, is growing up. Day by day we are waiting for another grandchild to be born. For the family, this is a joy, but alongside that joy there is always pain: Ruben is not with us. He cannot see how his children and grandchildren are growing up,” said Zonabend.
Speaking about Ruben Vardanyan’s appeal to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Zonabend emphasized its content: “He was asking for the most basic things - communication with his family, the possibility to receive books and parcels, the family’s right to be informed about what is happening to their loved one. When a person has been in detention for nearly three years, such things cease to be everyday matters. The voice of relatives, a child’s photograph, a book, the possibility to receive the most essential items - all of this gives strength and becomes part of an inner axis that helps preserve dignity and self-respect in such inhumane conditions.”
Zonabend also noted that for the family, traveling to Baku is a priority, and such a trip cannot depend solely on the personal determination of relatives. “The trip must be prepared under clear state and international guarantees - safe entry, visit, stay, and return,” she said.
Considering that families’ capacities are limited, and that international mechanisms begin to function only when there is a state will and consistency, Zonabend stated that she would very much like the state to see this issue not as an “inconvenient problem,” but as a natural responsibility toward people and their families: “The state is not only institutions, documents, and protocols. First and foremost, it is the protection of its own citizens.”
At the end of the interview, Zonabend addressed the public, calling on people not to remain silent and not to ignore the issue. “I would like to address those who will participate in the upcoming international meetings: please do not perceive this issue as an inconvenient ‘addition’ to big politics. Such issues show the extent to which we are truly ready to build peace not only at the level of states, but also at the level of human destinies,” said Ruben Vardanyan’s wife.