Armenian hostages and enforced disappearances

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State hostages & forcibly disappeared

Today is my father’s 70th birthday, and we are going mad with helplessness that we cannot simply call and say, ‘Papa, I love you, happy birthday.’ (Press)

Oct 28

Lawyers Appeal to UN (UNWGAD) Over Illegal Detention of Armenian-Lebanese Citizen Vicken Euljekjian in Azerbaijan (Presse)

Oct 22

Parents of soldiers missing since the 2020 war clash with police near the Ministry of Defense (Press)

Sep 28

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Background and history

According to information from human rights NGOs, confirmed by the ICRC, Azerbaijan is still holding 23 Armenian prisoners, including 9 prisoners of war, 6 civilians and 8 political leaders from the self-determined Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), accused of terrorism and sentenced, after sham trials, to sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years in prison, in violation of international law and Azerbaijan's own commitments under the ceasefire declaration of 10 November 2020.

23 Armenian hostages list with details HERE

The Current Context

In September 2020, Azerbaijan started the second large-scale war in Nagorno-Karabakh, after 26 years of frozen conflict. Following this 44-day war, a tripartite ceasefire declaration was signed on 10 November 2020, between the Azeri and Russian presidents and the Armenian prime minister, in preparation for a subsequent peace agreement.

This declaration provided for the exchange of all prisoners of war between Azerbaijan on the one hand, and Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh on the other. By the beginning of 2021, all Azeri POWs were returned by Armenia to Azerbaijan.

The process of return of detained Armenian POWs and civilians was done in several waves in 2021, but Azerbaijan deliberately stopped it prematurely, using their release as a bargaining chip in its relations with Armenia. Furthermore, since 2021, the Azerbaijani army has made several incursions into Armenian territory, taking new prisoners each time.

On 15 June 2021, during a trip to Nagorno-Karabakh in the company of Turkish President Erdogan and his wife, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev openly admitted he was "still holding many Armenian prisoners of war" in order to use them for blackmail against Armenia and demand concessions not provided for in the tripartite agreement of November 2020.

In addition to 23 prisoners confirmed by Azerbaijan, evidences show the existence of at least 80 other captured persons (videos of their capture, testimonies of freed ex POWs ...) of whom we have no more news. Azerbaijan denies their existence. The fate of these "forcibly disappeared" remains uncertain, as the ICRC has no information about them and cannot visit them. According to Siranouch Sahakyan, lawyer for the families of prisoners of war, Azerbaijan has returned 40 bodies of soldiers killed to Armenia, even though there is video evidence of their capture. Azerbaijan has never provided any explanation for these killings.

Abuse of prisoners of war by Baku - legal aspects
In accordance with international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict, soldiers captured before and after the ceasefire must be recognized as prisoners of war and enjoy the protection of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949 (“Geneva Convention III”).