ECHR Notifies CoE About Non-Implementation of Interim Measures Against Azerbaijan

According to Rule 39, paragraph 2 of the European Court of Human Rights, on March 9, 2021, the Court (consisting of a chamber of seven judges) decided to inform the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regarding the interim measures applied under Rule 39 in relation to the recent armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This includes the general measures addressed to both states, as per the decision made on September 29, 2020, and clarified on November 4, 2020, as well as 78 decisions made by the President of the relevant Section from October 13, 2020, to March 5, 2021, concerning requests for interim measures related to the alleged detention of 249 Armenians by Azerbaijan.

The applications were submitted by the Government of Armenia within the framework of the inter-state complaint “Armenia v. Azerbaijan” (application number 42521/20) and by relatives of the allegedly captured individuals in 62 individual applications.

The Armenian representative at the ECHR informed that the Court has notified the Committee of Ministers that, according to the information provided by the Government of Armenia, 58 of these individuals were returned between December 2020 and February 2021, while 7 individuals were reported deceased (nevertheless, six individual applicants claim that they have not received any evidence confirming the death of their relatives).

Among the 249 Armenians, 72 are still in Azerbaijan, their detention and custody confirmed by the Azerbaijani government. As for the remaining 112 individuals, the Azerbaijani government asserts that they have been unable to identify these individuals among those in their custody.

Rule 39 has been applied concerning 229 out of the 249 Armenians. Regarding the other 20 individuals, the examination of the application of Rule 39 has been suspended, or no decision has been made, as they had been returned during that time.

The Azerbaijani government has been requested to provide clear information regarding these individuals, including their detention conditions, medical examination, and any measures already taken or underway for their return.

On February 19, 2021, the President of the Section lifted the interim measures applied concerning 41 Armenian individuals, including 40 who had been returned and 1 whose remains were found through search efforts. Hence, the decisions regarding the measures applied under Rule 39 remain in effect for the 188 individuals allegedly detained by Azerbaijan.

The Court decided to notify the Committee of Ministers regarding the interim measures it applied, taking into account the circumstances that the Azerbaijani government has violated the deadlines set by the Court for providing information about the individuals in question and has provided more general and limited information.

For comprehensive information, it is necessary to note that the Court has also received applications concerning the implementation of Rule 39 from the Azerbaijani government regarding 16 Azerbaijanis allegedly detained by Armenia. The fact of detention for 12 of these individuals has been confirmed by the Government of Armenia, and these individuals were returned in December 2020. The detention of the remaining 4 individuals has not been confirmed by the Government of Armenia.

Considering the comprehensive nature of the information provided by the Government of Armenia, the Court decided not to apply Rule 39 in any of these applications, instead suspending its examination under Rule 39. The Court retains its jurisdiction over future applications regarding the application of Rule 39. The measures already applied remain in effect until a decision regarding the counter-case is made.