Armenian News-NEWS.am continues its series of interviews with international legal specialists, human rights defenders, and human rights experts to understand what needs to be done and what mechanisms are in place for the 23 Armenian prisoners illegally held in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku in order to protect the rights of the military-political leadership of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), prevent their torture, and ensure their return.
This time, we spoke with Arpi Avetisyan, an international human rights lawyer specialized in strategic litigation. Below is the text of this interview.
Mrs. Avetisyan, you have dealt with human rights protection issues in several countries around the world. Now, we have more than two dozen citizens who continue to be kept illegally by Azerbaijan in Baku prisons. In June, we learned from the application submitted by the legal team of the famous businessman and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Torture that he was tortured. Surely, other Armenian prisoners are subjected to torture and cruel treatment. As we know, you have experience working with UN Special Rapporteurs. In this situation, what steps should be taken to at least prevent the torture of our compatriots held in Baku prisons and ensure their return? Is international law powerless in the face of authoritarian countries today?
The urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture should be considered as part of a holistic approach to ensure prevention of torture and ill treatment in the future. It is very important that Ruben Vardanyan’s legal team has made this appeal and reached out to the UN Special Rapporteur. This will serve as an additional piece of evidence in the pending cases before the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg and should be raised as part of the advocacy efforts with the Council of Europe and the European Union institutions. I have worked in strategic litigation for nearly two decades, and in my experience, it is the combination of legal and political efforts with awareness raising that results in change.
At this stage, we don’t have any public information available on the communication exchange between the UN Special Rapporteur and the Azerbaijani government, which is usually the process that takes place after the appeal. This urgent appeal, and the involvement of the UN Special Rapporteur, should send another signal to the Azerbaijani authorities that they are under scrutiny. Using international law to get redress may be a long process. It is easy to give up, especially in the face of blatant human rights violations in authoritarian countries like Azerbaijan. The dire situation is very well documented, corroborating how the State is getting rid of any independent voices. We have witnessed so many arrests and sentencing of independent journalists, civil society activists, and human rights lawyers, representing victims of human rights abuses. All of these prosecution cases are based on fabricated charges, with many cases evidencing this before the European Court of Human Rights and UN treaty bodies.
In these circumstances the situation of ethnic Armenians currently held in Baku—the Armenian political prisoners illegally arrested and detained in Baku prison—is even more worrisome, particularly in light of the state-facilitated Armenianophobia. However, each and every avenue should be used to continue placing the spotlight on the situation of the political prisoners now in Baku. There is a bit more information on the situation of Ruben Vardanyan based on the urgent appeal submitted to the UN SR. . Unfortunately, it is very likely that others are also being treated inhumanely. The appeals, such as the one submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, are another puzzle piece in the broader legal and political processes. To make these efforts more efficient, it would be best to have coordination among civil society and the Armenian government, as well as with all other diplomatic efforts and international community members.
Azerbaijan invited Armenia to participate in COP29, to be held in Baku in November. There were opinions in the press stating that even if Armenia agrees to participate, it should be only on the condition of releasing all 23 prisoners and hostages held there. How do you assess such a possibility, especially considering that, recently, Russia, the United States, and a number of other countries have started a prisoner exchange process?
In relation to COP29, which will take place in Baku in November, and especially speaking about coordinated and targeted efforts, I think that COP29 provides a significant forum and opportunity that should be used by all possible actors. Participating states and institutions have a big role to play to support the release of Armenian prisoners. We should definitely use the momentum. “We” refers to the Armenian government, civil society organizations, international human rights lawyers, possibly the Diaspora—we should put in place all possible measures to ensure that this question is on the agenda and is pushed to be implemented.
A few months ago, for example, the European Parliament adopted a resolution, which highlighted the extent of the human rights violations in Azerbaijan to be incompatible with the aims of COP29, and indicated that Azerbaijan should not be allowed to host the Conference. I think that this is very telling, and we should use this opportunity—particularly the fact that Azerbaijan refers to COP29 as the “COP of Peace”—the release Armenian prisoners should be made conditional in order for it to proceed . We should call on Azerbaijan to ensure that the “COP for Peace” corresponds to its true meaning. Again, it is important that all possible actors raise this question and all possible means are pushed, including Armenian civil society organizations, as well as international human rights organizations, whose eyes are all currently on COP29, otherwise it is a missed opportunity.
One of Azerbaijan's demands is that Armenia withdraw the lawsuits filed against Azerbaijan in international courts. What consequences could this have for Armenia?
The short answer is that it is unacceptable. We have seen that political negotiations have not proven to be effective, and we also have many past examples where Azerbaijan did not follow and fulfill any obligations under the agreements. Even with explicit agreements in place, Azerbaijan continued violating international humanitarian law and human rights law. Without these legal means and accountability, Azerbaijan will feel sanctioned to continue doing whatever it wants to do.
Throughout the ongoing cases and negotiations, we have seen that Azerbaijan rejects any responsibility for any wrongdoing or acts of aggression. It rejects any war crimes that it has committed. It even attacked the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. These international court cases are very important. They are an important means to holding Azerbaijan accountable, and they are a means of redress for many thousands of victims of Azerbaijani actions: from the 2020 war to the ten-month blockade in Artsakh and subsequent attack on the Armenian population in Artsakh, where Azerbaijan basically got rid of the Armenian population and is currently wiping out any traces of Armenian presence and heritage.
These incidents—the acts of aggression and attacks—have resulted in many serious human rights violations: killings, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, through, for instance, the extended periods of suffering under the blockade, including shortages of food, medical supplies, gas and electricity. Now, we are witnessing the ongoing destruction of Armenian cultural heritage. We are even seeing the destruction of Armenian graves. The list can go on and on. It is very important to continue the cases and to hold Azerbaijan accountable for all of these actions.
The withdrawal will signify that Azerbaijan has no obligations toward Armenia, as a state — as we are looking at the interstate complaints and cases—but it will also mean that the Armenian government will leave its own citizens unprotected, because many of the individual cases are part of the interstate cases. So, pulling out of one case in the interstate cases leaves a whole segment of the population without justice and redress. Considering the procedural requirements, these individuals will no longer be able to bring their own cases to European courts or UN treaty bodies and will remain without any effective remedy or any type of remedy.
The Azerbaijani request for withdrawal clearly shows that it is afraid of the consequences. If Azerbaijan believes that there has been no wrongdoing, that it followed international humanitarian law and human rights law, why would it push for withdrawal? In a sense, it resembles the scenario of many domestic violence cases. This is, by now, well documented by, for example, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the European Court of Human Rights. In the cases where victims of domestic violence complain about the abuse, subsequently, the abuser, the aggressor, forces them to retract the complaints. The courts have considered that it just confirms the guilt on the part of the aggressor, and both CEDAW and the European Court have established that, even with the retractions, the cases should continue, because the aggression is already documented, and it should serve as a means to prevent similar actions in the future. The cases against Azerbaijan should continue not only for holding Azerbaijan for its past wrongdoings but also to prevent the occurrence of similar violations in the future.
And our traditional question: is real peace, or any peace treaty, possible if one country continues to hold the citizens of another country as captives or hostages?
Of course, it is not possible. If Azerbaijan wants peace, it should release all the Armenian prisoners, to show goodwill and good intentions, especially since these prisoners have been kept in conditions violating basic human rights. They have been tortured and have no prospect of due process, as there is no independent judiciary in Azerbaijan. As Azerbaijan usually responds in human rights cases saying, “Yes, everything is fine, nobody is treated poorly,” this is just an image they are trying to portray. However, if we are talking about real peace, and if we are entering into negotiations, the release of Armenian prisoners should be of foremost importance and a necessary condition.
