Azerbaijan Has Not Provided Substantiated and Credible Information on Armenian Prisoners of War. ECHR Takes Urgent Measures

In the case concerning the protection of the rights of military personnel captured during the war, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has accepted the applications and decided to apply urgent measures. This was announced on Facebook by human rights defender and former Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan.

“In the European Court regarding the protection of Armenian prisoners’ rights, during the large-scale war initiated by Azerbaijan against Artsakh on the morning of September 27, 2020, the European Court has satisfied our applications and decided to implement urgent measures. The individuals in captivity include Samvel Asatryan, Arsen Karapetyan, Norik Arakelyan, Gegham Elibekyan, Vahe Abrahamyan, Hovsep Sahakyan, Samvel Kastaksyan, Samvel Knazyan, Edik Tonoyan, Valeri Hayrapetyan, Harutyun Gevorgyan, Arman Harutyunyan, Mikael Martirosyan, Lyudvig Mkrtchyan, Petros Ghazaryan, Sargis Solomonyan, and Khachik Hakobyan.

It is recalled that applications have been submitted to the European Court on behalf of the families of Armenian captives, requesting the implementation of urgent measures to protect the rights to be free from inhuman treatment. The European Court has demanded from the Azerbaijani government documented information regarding the fact of their captivity, place of detention, conditions of detention, and medical care. The court has set a deadline for providing the required information by November 27, 2020. The court's decisions noted that the Azerbaijani government has not provided substantiated and credible information within the timeframe established by the court,” Zeynalyan stated.