Azerbaijan Continues to Violate ECtHR Requirements: Armenian Captive Tortured to Death

Azerbaijan continues to violate the requirements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the representative of the Armenian government at the ECtHR, made this statement during an interview with Sputnik Armenia, presenting specific examples that characterize the behavior of the Azerbaijani side.

"This concerns the regular violations of interim measures imposed by the ECHR against Azerbaijan. The court has recently been reminding that the parties are obligated to provide requested information through these interim measures and not to miss deadlines. However, Azerbaijan chronically violates this. We also noted in our complaint that Azerbaijan continuously commits violations that have led to tragic events," Kirakosyan said.

The ECHR representative indicated that the case in question pertains to an incident in January when Azerbaijan did not provide information regarding a detained individual, instead, the Armenian captive was later found dead near Hadrut.

"The examination showed that the individual had recently died as a result of torture. New detailed descriptions and justifications regarding this have been presented in our complaint, and this is a clear violation," Kirakosyan stated, adding that this fact could potentially have political consequences for Azerbaijan.

Nevertheless, Kirakosyan views the ongoing processes at the ECHR as contributing to the negotiation process for the return of captives. "We are gathering evidence about X person, sending it to the court. We say to the court, 'Dear court, based on our evidence, we are convinced that this person is under the control of Azerbaijani authorities; we ask you to take measures.' Then we either receive confirmation or we do not (in the overwhelming majority of cases, we do not receive it, in a small number of cases we do). If we do receive it, it at least creates some guarantee for that person's right to life until the moment of return through the negotiation process, the ICRC, or peacekeepers," Kirakosyan clarified.

Regarding the criminal cases against the captives, Kirakosyan emphasized that this is not a new practice for Azerbaijan. It has been tested for years against citizens abducted by Azerbaijanis from the border villages of Armenia, who were subjected to demonstrative cases for terrorism and other sensational charges. Today, with similar cases against Armenian captives, according to him, Azerbaijan is trying to balance the international accusations and media allegations regarding its use of Syrian mercenaries and terrorist groups.