“We’d like to note that the ICRC remains committed to continuing its dialogue with relevant Azerbaijani authorities regarding humanitarian issues, despite the closure of its office in Baku in September 2025,” said Zara Amatuni, communications and prevention manager of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Armenia, in response to an inquiry by Armenian News-NEWS. am.

Following the interrupted message addressed by Ruben Vardanyan—an Armenian citizen, philanthropist, and former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh who is being unlawfully detained in the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku—to Azerbaijan’s Ombudsperson Sabina Aliyeva, Armenian News-News.am sent inquiries to various institutions and agencies, including the head of the ICRC delegation in Armenia, Daphne Marais. "Last December, the ICRC delegation was able to visit the Armenian prisoners. Does the issue of Armenian detainees remain at the center of your and your organization’s attention, and is the possibility of organizing further visits currently being discussed?” the inquiry stated. And the response was provided by Amatuni:

“As you noted in your letter, at the end of December 2025, the ICRC representatives from our Geneva headquarters visited the persons detained in relation to the conflict notified to the ICRC by the Azerbaijani authorities. The visiting team included a medical doctor, who coordinated with the relevant penitentiary authorities regarding medical matters and assessed the health condition of detainees.

In accordance with the ICRC mandate and working modalities, these detainees were met in private by ICRC delegates, offered opportunities to exchange with their families and provided with basic assistance. The delegates also assessed the treatment of detainees, their health status, and their conditions of detention. All our observations and recommendations related to the visits are exclusively and confidentially shared with the detaining authorities.

In addition, we’d like to remind that as a neutral and impartial humanitarian organization, the ICRC does not take part in judicial proceedings and court hearings, neither do we provide any legal assistance. The purely humanitarian objective of the ICRC is to look at the detention condition and treatment of detainees, in line with our mandate and the countries’ obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

The ICRC will continue to engage with the concerned Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities to support persons protected under international humanitarian law (IHL)․”