The Director of the International and Comparative Law Center and Director of the Armenia Office of the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights, Siranush Sahakyan, participated in the discussion titled "Armenian Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan and the Imperative of EU Engagement" held at the European Parliament in Brussels. During the discussion, she presented legal assessments regarding the trials conducted against Armenian detainees held in Baku, their conditions of detention, and violations of their fundamental rights.
In her speech, Siranush Sahakyan stated that 20 Armenians are currently being held in Azerbaijan, including the military-political leadership of Artsakh. According to the human rights lawyer, they are subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution and are effectively being used as a tool of pressure against Armenia. "These proceedings also pursue a broader objective: to rewrite the history of Artsakh, criminalize the state institutions of Artsakh, and portray the very existence of Armenian self-governance in the Nagorno-Karabakh region as criminal activity," said Sahakyan.
Sahakyan addressed four main issues: the legal status of Artsakh, the nature of the charges brought against the Armenian detainees, the fairness of the trials, as well as the conditions of detention and the absence of international monitoring. She emphasized that the lack of international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh cannot serve as grounds for criminalizing service in its state institutions, and that the charges brought against the detainees contradict the fundamental principles of individual criminal responsibility.
She also raised serious concerns regarding the conduct of the trials, noting that Armenian civilians are being tried before a military court, while international journalists, independent observers, foreign diplomats, and family members have been denied the opportunity to attend the court hearings. At the same time, according to the human rights lawyer, Azerbaijani state media have been granted exclusive access to cover the proceedings, thereby shaping the state's narrative.
Particular attention was also given to the conditions of detention. Siranush Sahakyan noted that the Armenian detainees are deprived of regular access to their families, international lawyers, and independent humanitarian organizations. Following the suspension of the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross, there is no longer any international organization in Azerbaijan with direct access to them.
Referring to recent developments at the European Court of Human Rights, Siranush Sahakyan mentioned the judgment in the case of V.T. and Others v. Azerbaijan, which confirmed the war crimes committed against Armenian servicemen during the April 2016 war. According to her, the judgment constitutes an important international legal assessment documenting the crimes committed by Azerbaijan.
Concluding her speech, Siranush Sahakyan called on the European Union to make the immediate release of the Armenian detainees one of the key conditions in its relations with Azerbaijan. She also emphasized the need to ensure unrestricted and regular access to the detainees for their families, independent lawyers, medical personnel, humanitarian organizations, and representatives of neutral third countries, as well as the urgent establishment of a mechanism for visits under the auspices of a third country. "A genuine peace process cannot be built on the imprisonment of representatives of displaced people, the isolation of detainees from their families and lawyers, and the refusal to comply with the binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights," said Sahakyan.
The discussion titled "Armenian Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan and the Imperative of EU Engagement" was also attended by CSI Director of Public Advocacy Joel Veldkamp, IPHR Director for Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus Programmes Simon Papuashvili, and Armen Ishkhanyan, the son of former Speaker of the National Assembly of Artsakh, David Ishkhanyan, who is being held in Baku.
Addressing the issue of the Armenian detainees, Joel Veldkamp stated: "The international community tolerated Azerbaijan's military action and the ethnic cleansing carried out in Nagorno-Karabakh. Otherwise, the Armenian hostages would have been released. But by tolerating all of this, Europe is also accepting Turkey's dominance. The European Commission is systematically turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Azerbaijan, including the ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is an energy supplier to the European Union."
David Ishkhanyan's son, Armen Ishkhanyan, in turn, thanked the organizers on behalf of the family and expressed hope that the discussion would contribute to further internationalizing the issue of the Armenian detainees. He noted with regret that people who struggle for the right of peoples to self-determination are being punished. "Nearly all peace agreements around the world have, first and foremost, resulted in the release of prisoners of war, whereas Azerbaijan has consistently avoided doing so," said Armen Ishkhanyan.