Center for Truth and Justice urgently appeals to world leaders to demand release of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. The Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ) has urgently appealed to the global community, including world leaders and international institutions, to demand the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages currently detained by Azerbaijan.

The Center for Truth and Justice released a report titled As COP29 Unfolds, Armenian Hostages Remain Imprisoned: CFTJ Urges World Leaders to Demand Their Release.

“As world leaders convene in Azerbaijan for the UN’s COP29 conference to address the reduction of harmful carbon emissions and the challenges posed by climate change, twenty-three Armenian hostages and political prisoners remain detained in Baku’s prisons without due process. Among them are five Armenian soldiers captured during the 2020 war, eight members of Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership who were unlawfully arrested in September 2023, and several civilians who were detained during Azerbaijan’s nine-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the organization said in its report.

It recalled that on November 11 Freedom House released a “New Report: Azerbaijani Regime Ethnically Cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh According to International Fact-Finding Mission.”

Earlier in October, 60 members of the U.S. Senate signed a letter urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “press for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians, to enable a more conducive environment for successful diplomacy at COP29.”

Later the EU parliament adopted a resolution calling on Azerbaijan to release all Armenian POWs.

“The fate of the Armenian hostages in Azerbaijan remains uncertain. They endure harsh and inhumane treatment, including torture, both during their capture and transfer, as well as while being held in detention facilities… The Center for Truth and Justice once again appeals to international leaders to urge Azerbaijan to release these prisoners,” the organization said, listing the names of the prisoners.

“On October 1, 2024, Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general brought new false charges against these political hostages, accusing them of vandalizing historic and cultural monuments,” the CFTJ added.

Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged holding 23 Armenian POWs. Despite its obligation to release the prisoners under international law and the 2020 trilateral ceasefire agreement that ended the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has been refusing to free them. The prisoners include the former politicians and military officials of Nagorno-Karabakh: ex-presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, ex-State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, Parliament Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan, former commander of the Defense Army Levon Mnatsakanyan, former foreign minister Davit Babayan and deputy commander of the defense army Davit Manukyan. They were unlawfully detained after the 2023 Azeri military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh and jailed on fabricated charges.

“The Center for Truth and Justice urgently appeals to the global community, including world leaders and international institutions, to demand the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages currently detained by Azerbaijan. The continued captivity of these individuals constitutes a grave violation of international human rights law, and their prolonged suffering cannot be allowed to persist. Azerbaijan cannot be allowed to act with impunity. COP29 is a unique opportunity for the international community to demand that Azerbaijan release these unlawfully held prisoners,” the Center for Truth and Justice said.