ECHR Gives Azerbaijan November 4 Deadline to Report on Armenian Prisoners’ Conditions

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has taken a decisive step against Azerbaijan, demanding that the country provide a full report on the condition and treatment of the 23 Armenian prisoners being held in Baku. These Armenians, captured during the blockade followed by the forced deportation, remain unlawfully detained, cut off from the outside world and from international humanitarian monitoring. The ECtHR has set a deadline of November 4 for Azerbaijan to submit the report, marking another important reminder that international law cannot be ignored.

Back in July, Azerbaijan petitioned the ECtHR to be excused from submitting information about the Armenian captives. According to attorney Siranush Sahakyan, the legal representative of Armenian POWs at the ECtHR, this was an attempt by Baku to avoid accountability. Thanks to objections from the Armenian government and the prisoners’ representatives, including Sahakyan herself, the court rejected Azerbaijan’s request and foui ppl rced Baku to provide the report.

For almost three months, the 23 Armenian captives have been in complete isolation. No independent international organizations have been allowed to see them, and no new information has emerged about their physical health, mental well-being, or legal situation. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which had last visited the prisoners in June, has permanently shut down its activities in Baku following pressure from the Azerbaijani authorities. This expulsion has left the prisoners completely cut off from the outside world, at the mercy of a regime that has long shown hostility toward Armenians and indifference toward international law.

The issue of Armenian prisoners is not only about human rights—it is about peace itself. As Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Head of the Master’s Program on International Courts and Arbitration at Yerevan State University, recently emphasized during a discussion on October 1, peace cannot exist without addressing humanitarian issues.

“In my personal and professional understanding, peace first and foremost requires the direct addressing of humanitarian issues,” said Kirakosyan. He explained that genuine peace must begin with the release of prisoners of war, as required by the Geneva Conventions. “Why do the Geneva Conventions stipulate that there is an obligation for the immediate return of prisoners of war between the conflicting sides? The whole philosophy is precisely that when you cease hostilities, you are obliged to quickly return those you are holding. That is one of the important components of peace,” he said.

These words shows an undeniable truth: Azerbaijan’s refusal to release Armenian prisoners is not only a violation of international law but also a deliberate obstacle to peace.

Kirakosyan further explained that legal processes form the foundation of peace. “They are the bricks, the foundation, one of the pieces of the overall picture. Because legal processes provide guarantees, especially in conflicts with complex and deep historical roots, where there are disputes not only in fact but also in historical interpretation,” he said.

For decades, Azerbaijan has pursued a policy of denial and distortion, trying to rewrite history and silence the Armenian narrative of Artsakh and beyond. “In such conflicts there is also a battle of narratives, and each side—especially those under not-so-democratic regimes—tries to make its so-called truth dominant and prevailing,” Kirakosyan noted.

This is exactly what is happening today. Azerbaijan is trying to erase the Armenian presence of Artsakh, silence those who resist, and manipulate the story in its favor. But international law exists to protect the truth, to defend human rights, and to ensure that justice is not dependent on the whims of authoritarian regimes.

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