Protest Participants Deliver Open Letter to Canadian Prime Minister

Families of Armenian detainees held in Baku have sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, stating: "Families of Armenian captives held in Baku have addressed an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, requesting the involvement of a senior Canadian official on prisoners' affairs in the release of Armenian detainees and support for their immediate and unconditional release efforts. Below is the full text of the letter.

To: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
Yerevan, Armenia
Dear Prime Minister,

As families of Armenian detainees held in Baku, we welcome your historic visit to Armenia on the occasion of your participation in the 8th summit of the European Political Community. We hope your presence will strengthen Canada-Armenia relations and contribute to peace, security, and stability in the region.

With this letter, we wish to draw your attention to an urgent humanitarian issue: our loved ones, 19 Armenian prisoners, continue to be unjustly held in Azerbaijan. Despite numerous calls for their immediate and unconditional release from international organizations, including the European Parliament, Azerbaijan continues to unlawfully detain them, prolonging the suffering of their families and undermining trust in the peace process.

Canada has shown principled leadership in the fight against arbitrary detention and hostage diplomacy. By establishing the office of a senior official on prisoners' affairs and being a frontrunner in the declaration against arbitrary detention in international relations, Canada has affirmed that individuals should not be used as political leverage in state-to-state relations. We respectfully note that what is happening to our loved ones fully aligns with the spirit and purpose of these commitments.

Our concerns deepen due to the conditions of their detention and the serious human rights violations documented by international actors. The trials held against them have been widely criticized as processes incompatible with the principles of fair trial. Azerbaijani officials have stated that they have no intention of releasing former officials from Nagorno-Karabakh. The cessation of the physical presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan has deprived our families of the ability to receive regular and impartial information about their conditions.

Canada's experience lends profound moral weight to this call. Canada has gone through its own process of reconciliation and has come to understand that sustainable peace can be built not on denial, silence, or unhealed wounds but on truth, recognition of rights, respect, cooperation, and partnership. The same principle applies here: peace that allows people to be arbitrarily detained and their families to suffer cannot be trusted, sustained, or just.

Dear Prime Minister, during your speech in Davos, you presented a principled and pragmatic vision of 'values-based realism' based on human rights, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and rule of law. You mentioned Václav Havel's warning about 'living a lie': the continued detention of Armenian prisoners in Baku is precisely such a situation that must be named and addressed clearly.

We respectfully urge you to engage the senior Canadian official on prisoners' affairs in the case of Armenian prisoners held in Baku and support efforts for their immediate and unconditional release. We also request that Canada use its voice, diplomatic channels, and relations with the European Union, the United States, and other parties to the declaration against arbitrary detention to coordinate pressure on Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's commitment to peace will not instill confidence in the Armenian public as long as Armenian prisoners remain in captivity. Their release and return to their homeland are essential to any real peace process and a vital means of building trust.

Your visit to Yerevan is an important opportunity to demonstrate that Canada’s commitment to ending arbitrary detention is not merely a word, but also action.

With the utmost respect, we call on you to meet with the families of the prisoners held in Baku, listen to us, and raise the issue of Armenian prisoners in your meetings with leaders of other countries. We firmly believe that Canada can play a principled and constructive role in ending the suffering of our families. Thank you for your attention to this urgent humanitarian issue, and we look forward to Canada's support in securing the release and safe return of our loved ones."