FREE ARMENIAN HOSTAGES! LIBERTAS’ APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN POLITICAL COMMUNITY (LIBERTAS)

FREE ARMENIAN HOSTAGES!

LIBERTAS’ APPEAL

TO THE EUROPEAN POLITICAL COMMUNITY

For the release of the 20 Armenian hostages,

For the right of return for Armenians expelled from Artsakh

Ladies and Gentlemen, Heads of State*,

as you gather in Armenia to address the theme of Unity and Stability in Europe, the Armenian people welcoming you to their capital feel threatened by the warmongering policy of neighboring Azerbaijan, manifested in creeping aggression and a constant denial of their rights and sovereignty.

This policy includes, in particular, systemic anti-Armenian racism generated by the highest echelons of the state, irredentist schemes coveting Armenian lands as part of a fantasized “Western Azerbaijan,” and the criminalization of Armenians wherever they may be in the world.

Baku is holding 20 Armenian state hostages in its prisons, deprived of humanitarian assistance since the ICRC was expelled from Azerbaijan in 2025: civilians, military personnel, and political leaders who, following sham trials worthy of the Stalinist regime, have been sentenced to harsh terms ranging up to life imprisonment. Some are seriously ill and require medical care that has been denied to them to this day.

Azerbaijan is threatening Armenia with an extension of its policy of extermination carried out in Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in the complete ethnic cleansing of its Armenian population in 2023, followed by the destruction of its millennia-old cultural and religious heritage through bombings that continue to this day.

During this summit, you will address issues of European security and the tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We are convinced that Europe will not be secure if it remains silent about these crimes on its border. Gathered in Armenia, you cannot in good conscience ignore these violations of the rights and dignity of the people who are hosting you.

Resolutions by the European Parliament and EU member states have repeatedly called for the release of Armenian state hostages and for the affirmation of the right of return, backed by international guarantees, for the indigenous Armenian inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh, who are victims of ethnic cleansing.

However, these resolutions have gone unheeded, and these crimes have not featured prominently in European policy toward Azerbaijan, despite the country’s guilt for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On the occasion of this summit, which we welcome, we call on you to make these resolutions binding.

Demand that Azerbaijan release the Armenian hostages as a preliminary gesture of its willingness to make peace with Armenia, under threat of sanctions.

Baku has been violating international law with impunity for far too many years!

Hilda Tchoboian – Coordinator of LIBERTAS

www.libertas2020.com / Contact: Tel: +33652955628 Contact@libertas2020.com

LIBERTAS works for the release of Armenian state hostages and the rehabilitation of released prisoners

*List of the 48 countries whose heads of state or government were invited to the eighth summit of the European Political Community:

• the 27 EU member states

• Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

**This appeal in PDF format (English):  https://cba5a4cc-f0e0-4fc4-8ca4-28ca80f25e0f.usrfiles.com/ugd/cba5a4_b2934584078c4e22ab6d169402b1a75f.pdf