Today,
on June 9, consecutive court hearings were held in Baku on criminal cases of
Armenian captives Ludvik Mkrtchyan, Alyosha Khosrovyan, and on June 8, Viken
Euljekjian, which grossly violate their rights and the norms of international
law.
Azerbaijani
publications show that the Armenian captives were indicted for alleged torture,
creating armed formations or groups not permitted by law, and other acts.
The
Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia records that all the aforementioned
persons were captured within the scope of the Artsakh conflict and the conflict
is not over yet. All servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side detained in
Azerbaijan have the status of captives.
Therefore,
any kind of persecution or trial against any of them is a gross violation of
international law, and their detention is a prohibited punishment. These rules
are directly derived from the requirements of international humanitarian law.
Moreover,
the Azerbaijani authorities initiate criminal proceedings against the Armenian
captives on the basis of their so-called “confessions” and use them as
evidence. These gross violations of international law are highlighted in the
special report of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia.
The
policy of Armenophobia and anti-Armenian hostility of the Azerbaijani
authorities, in turn confirms the illegality of criminal proceedings and makes
useless to talk about guaranteeing any human rights. In these conditions, the
right to life of captives is obviously endangered, and vital rights are
violated.
The
Azerbaijani authorities do not publish the real number of captives.
The
investigations of the Human Rights Defender, the complaints received from the
parents of the captives and missing persons, clearly show that the trials are
causing additional mental suffering to their relatives and tension in Armenian
society. Therefore, these trials completely contradict the foundations of
international law, grossly violate the rights of captives, of their relatives
and missing persons, and openly politicize humanitarian issues.
The
Human Rights Defender calls the attention of international community to the
aforementioned facts and the continuing gross violations of human rights by the
Azerbaijani authorities, and a [state] policy that continues to undermine
international humanitarian requirements.
All
the captives of the Armenian side illegally detained in Azerbaijan must be
released immediately and returned to their homeland without any preconditions.
Mr. Arman Tatoyan
Human Rights Defender
Հայերեն
