The Pan-Armenian Council of Diplomats has issued a statement strongly condemning the trials held in Baku, stating that the illegal detention and hostage-taking of Armenians, followed by closed, politically orchestrated trials, fabricated charges, and predetermined sentences, amount to political retribution against individuals of Armenian origin and may qualify as gross violations of international humanitarian law.
The statement also notes that “the actions taken so far by the current authorities of Armenia, and especially their inaction in defending the rights of our compatriots and ensuring their repatriation, raise serious concerns.”
“After nearly a year of sham trials in Baku, based on clearly fabricated criminal cases and conducted with flagrant violations of international procedural standards, the process ended with politically predetermined verdicts. The abducted military and political leadership of Artsakh, as well as other Armenian prisoners, were sentenced to life imprisonment or to terms of 15–20 years.
This process cannot be regarded as the administration of justice. It represents a classic example of political persecution and Armenophobia and contradicts a number of fundamental norms of international law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, as well as international obligations related to fair trial guarantees, the presumption of innocence, and the protection of prisoners of war.
Despite the predictability of such developments, what has occurred causes deep concern and pain, as it once again demonstrates the selective application of international legal mechanisms, the absence of moral accountability, and the substitution of law by the use of force. The goals of liberation struggles are deliberately distorted, while the right of peoples to self-determination is effectively subordinated to the threat of force.
It is particularly alarming that all this is taking place against the backdrop of statements about a so-called peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, at a time when certain international actors either remain silent or effectively turn a blind eye to grave violations of international law, thereby contributing to the deepening of an atmosphere of impunity,” the statement reads.
The Pan-Armenian Council of Diplomats considers it necessary to clearly state that former foreign ministers of the Republic of Artsakh Arkadi Ghukasyan (later also president) and David Babayan, former presidents Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, senior state officials David Ishkhanyan and Ruben Vardanyan, as well as high-ranking military officers Levon Mnatsakanyan and David Manukyan, carried out their activities solely with the aim of achieving peace, ensuring regional stability, and protecting the fundamental rights of their people. Their criminalization, the statement says, has no legal justification.
“The issue can be resolved, and doubts dispelled, only through the full and unconditional release of all persons illegally detained and convicted in Azerbaijan, followed by their return to their families. This is a matter of dignity for all Armenians and for the Armenian state,” the statement concludes.
