Dear supporter,
Thanks to you, our Petition is reaching 35.000 signatures, which makes it one of the most visible petitions worldwide.
It has been a year since the early morning hours of 27 September 2020, when - during the height of the global pandemic - armed forces of Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military attack against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) at the entire length of the contact line. During the armed conflict over 4000 IS mercenaries were recruited using legally prohibited methods, including torture and beheadings of ethnic Armenians. The indigenous people of the Republic of Artsakh were and are still being systematically, deliberately intimidated, captured and terrorized by Azerbaijani forces both in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as alongside contact borders of the Republic of Armenia. As the victorious Azerbaijani side does not comply with article 8 of the Ceasefire Agreement, yet world leaders and international organisations have failed to condemn President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s war crimes and reluctant to sanction Azerbaijan for its absolute disregard of internationals agreements regarding the human rights of civilians and POWs.
According to the data published by the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia on October 4, the location of 231 servicemen and 22 civilians is unknown. At least 39 Armenian captives have been tortured to death by the Azerbaijani regime, according to human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, representing dozens of hostages the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
To this day, only 108 captured servicemen and civilians in total have been handed over to the Republic of Armenia by the Republic of Azerbaijan [1]. The last captives repatriated were driver Aramayis Torozyan and soldier Arthur Nalbandyan, who returned home on September 8. They went missing almost two months ago in Ishkhanasar, Southern Armenia’s Syunik region [2].
Furthermore, from May of this year, sham trials of Armenian hostages have been taking place at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes without adequate legal representation. Armenian prisoners are completely isolated from the outside world, with restricted or no means to communicate with their families. After a year since the war started, the total number of Armenian hostages sentenced to varying prison terms has amounted to 57, the longest sentences (20 years of imprisonment) being given to Lebanese-Armenian citizen Vicken Eujekjian [3], Armenian servicemen Ludwig Mkrtchyan and Alyosha Khosrovyan [4].
Since the last public trial of Armenian captives on August 2, no further investigations or trials were made public or shared by the media by Azerbaijani authorities. We are aware that several appeals had been filed in the past month by Armenian captives who refused their long sentences by the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. Armenian hostages are not allowed proper legal representation, conversations, and communication with their families about their cases.
The latest AdHoc report of 4 September 2021 by Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, contains shocking testimonies from the released hostages about official Baku’s systematic inhumane treatment of Armenians while in custody in Azerbaijan, as captives have been subjected to coordinated and state-sanctioned physical and psychological torture and were not provided with adequate food, water, medical attention, or items of hygiene. Several prisoners attested that they were kept with their hands tied to a radiator or heating rod for several days at a time as they were lying on the floor. Others were kept handcuffed and were not allowed to lay down or stand up and were forced to stand or stay sitting for days on end [5].
As evidence of the brutal and inhumane treatment of Armenian POWs and captives in Azerbaijani prisons, we would like to highlight the story of an Armenian prisoner of war Gagik Mkrtchyan, pictured above (age 19). He was captured after the war, on December 6, near Hadrut. His family had no news of him for a long time, meanwhile had been trying to contact authorities and the International Committee of Red Cross to gain some details about the conditions of his detention. On April 16, his body was returned to Armenia decapitated and covered with harrowing wounds. Gagik’s mother said that the boy was brutally tortured, the skin on his arm was ripped off, there were numerous marks of knife wounds on his chest, two gunshot wounds to the leg, his ribs were completely broken, and there were burn marks on his body. His internal organs were also missing [6].
As the war crimes committed against the Armenian hostages have remained unpunished, Azerbaijani military keep taking new civilian hostages and servicemen, now even from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. The latest incident occurred around 21.00 on 22 August 2021, when the commander of the local division, Arthur Davidyan was announced missing near Sev Lake. During our conversation, his wife Hasmik Abgaryan told us that it seemed impossible that her husband was lost and had crossed the border accidentally, being an experienced serviceman with over 11 years’ experience in such terrains. On behalf of the family, we are asking you to communicate with Arthur Davidyan’s family urgently, who has addressed a letter to the ICRC already. Arthur Davidyan is 32 and is father of two young children, aged 5 and 9.
With this petition, we urge world leaders and governments, humanitarian organizations and international bodies, such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe, to ensure the release of all civilians and POWs held illegally by the Azerbaijani authorities and condemn the regime for continuous contempt of international laws and obligations of the United Nations member states.
Our mission is not yet fulfilled; we are not stopping #UntilTheyAreHome
Thank you for your continuous support for our group defending human rights, values and dignity!
Please continue spreading and sharing the Petition to your friends, groups and the wider community:
https://www.change.org/armenianpwo
British Armenian humanitarian group
E-mail: info@britisharmenian.org
Twitter: twitter.com/arm_brit
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[1] https://investigative.am/en/news/view/44-orya-paterazm.html
[2] https://en.armradio.am/2021/09/07/two-armenian-soldiers-return-from-azerbaijani-captivity/
[3] https://www.persecution.org/2021/06/16/lebanese-armenian-pow-sentenced-20-years-azerbaijan/
[4] https://www.persecution.org/2021/06/16/lebanese-armenian-pow-sentenced-20-years-azerbaijan/