There have been suicide attempts among the Armenian prisoners being held in the prisons of Azerbaijani capital Baku. Attorney and human rights activist Siranush Sahakyan, the Armenian prisoners’ legal representative at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), on Wednesday told this to Azatutyun, the RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

According to Sahakyan, these prisoners recently had a telephone conversation with their relatives, during which it became known about these suicide attempts. Without naming names, Sahakyan only informed that those who attempted suicide were not from the former military and political leadership of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

“Unfortunately, I cannot specify ... That is, after the cessation of Red Cross visits, such attempts have occurred, have been repeated, which indicates a direct connection with the cessation of the activities of the Red Cross [in Azerbaijan], isolation, and human suffering,” the human rights activist emphasized.

The Armenian prisoners’ legal representative at the ECtHR is sounding the alarm: these prisoners have been in complete isolation for about two months, and no independent international organization has visited them. There is no information about their detention, health, and psychological conditions.

“There have been phone calls these days, and the families conveyed to us that through these conversations, serious health problems and, of course, a difficult psychological state have already become noticeable for them. Hopelessness is deepening,” Siranush Sahakyan stressed.