On 10 November 2015, the European Court of Human Rights communicated the case of Mamikon Khojoyan, a 77-year-old Armenian citizen who inadvertently crossed the border into Azerbaijan in 2014. 

The “Against Legal Arbitrariness” NGO of Armenia issued a respective statement on Friday.

“He was allegedly held by Azerbaijani authorities for over a month, and subjected to torture and ill-treatment by a group of unknown persons on the basis of national and religious hatred. He died two months after he was handed over to Armenian authorities and returned home.

“The [case] applicants [i.e. Khojoyan’s three children] complain that their father was subjected to physical violence and was injected with drugs during his detention, which constituted torture and degrading treatment, and posed a danger to his life, serious breaches of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). They argue that this treatment eventually led to his death. They also claim a violation of the procedural aspects of both Articles as there was no investigation by Azerbaijan into the circumstances of Mr Khojoyan’s detention and treatment.

“With regards to their own mental suffering, they claim that seeing their father’s injuries on television and the internet both during his detention and after his release constitutes an additional violation of Article 3.

“Moreover, Mr Khojoyan’s children argue that their elderly father was unlawfully deprived of liberty during his five week detention, and was not informed of the reasons why he had been detained; nor was he brought before a judge. With regards to this and the above violations, they maintain that they did not have an effective remedy (Article 13 ECHR). Finally, they claim that their rights, and the rights of their father, were violated by the Azerbaijani authorities because of his ethnic Armenian origin, a violation of the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14 ECHR).

“The Azerbaijani Government are due to respond to the allegations and the Court’s questions by 8 March 2016,” the statement specifically reads. 

Mamikon Khojoyan, 77, a resident of Verin Karmiraghbyur village of Armenia’s Tavush Region, was taken captive by Azerbaijan on January 28, 2014. He suffered from mental illness. Azerbaijan returned the elderly to Armenia on March 4 of the same year. Preliminary medical examination, however, revealed that Khojoyan had multiple fractures and injuries as well as numerous wounds and cracks. All the injuries indicated that he was tortured while in captivity, and the elderly man died on May 20.