Any Peace is Hollow While There Are Prisoners: Armen Gevorgyan at the PACE

Any peace is hollow while there are prisoners, and real stability cannot be built on the suffering of captives. This statement was made today by Armen Gevorgyan, a member of the "Armenia" faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, during a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Committee on Social Affairs, Health, and Sustainable Development.

“Worrying reports are coming in regarding Armenian prisoners held in Baku, who are in severe psychological conditions and have even attempted suicide following the suspension of visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross, a humanitarian operation that is now halted. For almost two months, the prisoners have been in complete isolation, and no independent international organization has visited them. There are no reports on their detention, health, or psychological state,” said Gevorgyan.

He emphasized that the last visit by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to Armenian prisoners was in June. Currently, their operations in Baku have been entirely stopped at the request of the Azerbaijani authorities.

The MP also referred to the declaration signed in Washington on August 8, stressing that no progress has been made regarding the release of prisoners. “Just as Hamas holds hostages as leverage in negotiations, Ilham Aliyev uses Armenian prisoners, including former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, as political pawns in the negotiation process. They are not just prisoners but living tools of political manipulation,” Gevorgyan stated.

Addressing the PACE, he noted that it is time for the organization to not only demand the immediate and unhindered access of the Red Cross and neutral third-party consular or humanitarian organizations to Armenian prisoners in Baku but also their release.