In the beginning of this year, lawyers of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office Arayik Zalyan and Ani Chatinyan had lodged applications with the European Court of Human Rights to apply an urgent measure in the cases of 3 servicemen who were captured during the 44-day war [in Nagorno-Karabakh], and even though the ECHR has not applied urgent measures, the main complaints have been submitted upon the request of the Court, the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office reports.

“In addition to the complaints submitted under the cases of persons captured as a result of the 44-day war, a complaint was also submitted under the case of a serviceman captured during the fighting over the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia on November 16, 2021, under which the ECHR has decided to apply an urgent measure.

The lawyers of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office have submitted a complaint to the ECHR under another case as well, on the ground of violation of the right of a family member of a captive of the 44-day war to not be treated badly, with the justification that the family member has explored the videos released on Azerbaijani websites for months in an attempt to find the son in those videos, and on April 12, 2021 Baku opened a ‘war trophy park’ where the mannequins of officers of the Armenian Armed Forces were displayed along with Armenian military equipment that was seized.

A petition to apply an urgent measure was also submitted for protection of the rights of A. Gh. who was captured in peace, on the basis of which he was also returned to Armenia during the exchange of captives on December 14, 2020,” the press release reads.